If Trump pursued peace and understanding with the same fervor that he pursues porn stars, we'd be in a much more stabile position with our adversaries.
• "They know we have the capability to defeat them, and they believe we have the intent to do so.”
And they're right – on BOTH!
1
Like trade, diplomacy is not a zero sum game. And, it is the long game. So, what may look like a concession might have long term effects or consequences. There are no guarantees. The goal is long term peace and eventual prosperity. Military solutions are costly to all sides. If anyone lets loose with a nuclear weapon pretty much everyone will let loose their nuclear weapons. If we use non-nuclear conventional weapons, allies will be involved in a very protracted action, very costly, and threatening the prosperity of the world.
In DPRK and the South Korea situation, I can see these two nations coming to agreement on reduction of conventional weapons and border tensions, reduction of the armistice and movement toward peace. Does China, Russia and US have skin in this game? You betcha, along with all of the other Asian nations. So that is going to be where the work will have to get done. There is no all or nothing in this. Can we trust Kim, Xi or Putin? Of course not. Can they trust Japan, Taiwan, the US? They don't. It's not about fake flattery, threats, take-aways, gimmes, smiles and handshakes. It's about each sovereign state surviving into the foreseeable future. It's agreement on actions and non-actions, verifying, enforcement and consequences involving all nations. Can we get that done by June 19th, you think?
2
Mr. Trump's unilateral action in abruptly canceling US participation in the scheduled Singapore summit has underscored the profound limitations of his leadership at home and on the world stage. His aggrieved breakup letter to Kim Jong-un was an embarrassment of grotesque proportions. Literally overnight, in less than 24 hours, Mr. Trump managed simultaneously to confirm his lack of fitness as the POTUS, needlessly and deeply offend friend and foe alike, and in the process enabled the DPRK regime to deftly seize the moral high ground on the global stage.
Mr. Trump has met more than his match in Kim Jong-un, which does not bode well for US interests either in Asia or the world-at-large.
6
America limps on into the abyss...
2
So say none of us. That shark you keep jumping may be toothless but don't think the legal citizens who value safety, security and honor aren't taking notice.
Once again the Times attributes to Trump the quality of being able to think beyond his next sentence. Bold and innovative approach? Hah! Unless you define bold as careless and innovative as trying something certain to fail.
2
Why isn't this in the opinion section? Whether or not this is a success or failure is up to interpretation. Part of making deals sometimes is knowing when to walk away from the table. It's up to the North Koreans to decide if they want to live in poverty or have nuclear weapons. Trump is communicating in his ad hoc way (not defending the haphazzardness of this all) that he will not sign off on an egregious giveaway like Obama did with Iran.
3
What a difference a day makes. Turns out North Korea is more interested in meeting than we are. So maybe zero nuclear weapons is on the table?
I like Bill Perry, but I don't think he's much of a negotiator. Donald Trump is. It's easy to see that one is better than the other.
3
I wish Trump could be president for life. That way we could all see what the country would look like after having it run by a Republican genius for a few decades.
Imagine it! I mean really, really imagine how great it would be!
Trump for life!
2
What if Moon and Kim negotiate a peace treaty that involves NoKo removing threats to SoKo in return for SoKo politely requesting that the USA remove its military facilities from the peninsula? With the incentive for both Koreas being cross-border trade, travel and development that would boost both economies (and China's into the bargain).
What would the US do? Refuse to leave? Declare that SoKo isn't allowed to sign a peace treaty that doesn't include the US? We would soon find that our only possible allies in those stances would be Japan and Taiwan--and that's if American hawks are lucky. The UK and Israel would make supportive noises, but they have no dog in the fight and no interest in jumping in.
The US would soon find itself isolated, with a significant faction of Japanese voters starting to question continued hosting of US bases there, and most of the rest of the world itching to get in on increased Korean trade, and fearful of losing out on China trade. China wouldn't have to utter a single word: Xi would just smile, and nobody would need a translation.
The best part would be watching John Bolton's head explode. But what else is he expecting? Has he even considered the possibility of 2-party peace talks? Does he think he can prevent them? Does he think he can attack NoKo without SoKo's permission? Does he think the Pentagon will execute such an order? I believe John Bolton may have single-handedly tipped the American Empire into a slow death-spiral.
4
I take no great joy in stating that Trump's negotiating playbook will very likely succeed with North Korea over the next several months because Kim's objectives are now very different from what they have been throughout most of his tenure as NK's dictator-in-chief. As Kim very plainly announced in November of last year, he successfully completed the creation of his minimally sufficient military nuclear deterrence.
Now Kim is ready to embark on the second element in the "two-track" long-term program that his government announced in March 2013, and that is to follow China's communist-capitalism example and liberalize and grow his nation's economy. To do that, he needs significant relief from sanctions, along with a much closer relationship to the US in order to evolve North Korea from its current China client-state status. Kim, of course, cannot give up his current nuclear deterrence, but there's lots of room for concessions on further military nuclear development.
All this works to Trump's advantage since he welcomes any opportunity for the public bluster that so effectively fertilizes his political base. Trump's characteristic antagonism in negotiation will also have wider political benefits here, since NK's inevitable agreement to a new and unprecedented detente will be viewed even by Trump detractors as legitimate proof that the Trump approach delivers results on the world stage. The serendipity of fortunate timing will once again gift Trump with unearned rewards.
3
Trouble with your theory is that the US is not going to accept North Korea keeping its nuclear weapons. If they do, what do we gain?
The question is whether Kim Jong Un wants peace and prosperity more than he wants nuclear weapons. He has to choose. He can't have both.
I'll bet Kim Jong Un decides to give up his nuclear weapons. They are of no use to him. What is going to do with them?
4
Just think trumper-base, even Kim Jong-un did not fall for his "threats and flattery" strategy---but you did! Not sure how that can be spun, but Faux "news" is no doubt working on it really badly hard.
In my opinion, the author and many posters are making a mistake by expecting Kim and Trump to do business like diplomats and world leaders. They're both hustlers and mavericks who either play at, or are, a bit deranged. If you look at their interactions and expect the actions of normal politicians, it looks like a train wreck.
If you think instead of a couple of street hustlers negotiating over who owns a corner, their actions make more sense. They bluster, shout, threaten, back off, and eventually either fight or reach an agreement.
I'm not a Trump supporter. I wish Hillary had won, but she didn't. This might be the one thing that Trump knows better than our past leaders. Maybe it takes one to know one.
It isn't over until it's over. It's a work in progress.
3
there is no trump playbook. at this point trump will give Kim anything that does not belong to trump to get credit for Kim signing a treaty, and trump demanding a Nobel prize. oh, and trumps name on something big with royalties. big royalties.
2
Kim appears to have read, "The Art of Negotiating with a Flim-flam Man."
2
Trump is in so far over his head in world affairs it isn't funny. (Really, it isn't.)
He's used to the sort of "negotiating" where everything is arrayed in his favor - much less wealthy partners and contractors who can be bullied, cheated and eventually fleeced through the bankruptcy laws that favor unscrupulous operators like Trump.
That is light years from engaging with China, Iran, North Korea or the Middle East, in which the situations are highly nuanced and complex, and the adversaries are intelligent, detailed and have leverage of their own.
Who could have guessed that nuclear weapon diplomacy could be so complicated.
3
Oh come ON!
The only people who thought the so-called president could do ANYTHING were the easily intimidated and the people of the basket.
No one else thinks he can do anything but tear things DOWN.
Make America Garbage Allover
3
Yeah, maybe you should wait until this whole saga is over, before gloating over Trump's failure. It is a negotiation; it may take a few rounds of back and forth..
I think the meeting will eventually take place, and you will have to eat your words. Both parties want it, just a matter of, yes, negotiation, about the agenda, pre-conditions etc.
You rushed to judgement like a salmon up the river.
4
Excellent analysis, particularly regarding Bolton's attempt to provoke an aggressive pretext for attack by invoking the Libyan Model, Moon's effective deescalation, and, of course, Trump's inability to tolerate stepwise action.
Always so negative. Why not read the book "Art of the Deal" and be patient, instead of criticizing. Patience is a virtue.
3
Jackass negotiating 101:
1. Start with a rich father and inherit the money
2. Lie, cheat, cajole, make fake promises, bully, and
use any negative tactic to abase your opposite
3. Change your mind, and cancel the negotiations
4. Restart the negotiations with step 2
3
Since 1945 when the government uncorked the American genie on children, the question of putting the genie back in the bottle has defied ethics and human reason. The two worst nuclear evil powers are modernizing their weapons of genocide, while those with one or two percent of the world's nuclear weapons are reluctant to disarm.
Perhaps we shouldn't be too critical of the amateur rookie for fumbling the problem that has remained unsolved for over 70 years.
However much we might now wish the American genie had not been uncorked, creating the terror of nuclear weapons hanging over humanity like the Sword of Democles, this might be a permanent legacy of government.
3
There is zero evidence that Trump has any bonafide negotiating skills let alone those required to competently negotiate the most delicate of international foreign policy deals involving National Security matters. Zero. There is an abundance of evidence--based on his record the last 50 yrs.-- that he's wholly ignorant, inexperienced, lazy, ill-prepared and ill tempered to successfully orchestrate any such negotiation.
10
Rather like the drama between Lucy and
Charley Brown. With Donny playing Lucy.
Keep your eye on the ball Kim!
1
Way over his head! Very different from squeezing building contractors. But his real downfall is that he thinks he knows the best, all by himself.
2
This whole masquerade was doomed from the start, due to lack of preparation, and lack of understanding on Trump's part, that his juvenile Internet-based insult campaign doesn't amount to strong diplomacy. Plus, his mistaken belief that he can negotiate an advantageous outcome with a spoiled brat who mirrors his own narcissism flies in the face of the harsh reality that in every previous negotiation with a world leader, Trump has managed to wind up on the short end of the negotiation to the detriment of the country, most notably, the recent negotiations with Xi Jinping about the ZTE sanctions. we will all be better off when the squatter in the Oval Office is no longer there. We can only hope that the damage he does will be less than he apparently wants to do.
4
Trump's revolutionary approach with regards to North Korea. It sure was. Dead on arrival.
2
The prime factor for these two countries, Israel and North Korea is - security! Both are nuclear, very, very nuclear, clandestine, not party to the NPT. Then why is America's response so different. One is rewarded by aiding them to prosperity. While the other is strangulated with sanctions. Both these countries are involved in breaking humanitarian laws. I hate Kim. But I don't begrudge him for holding on to his only security card. Besides Kim is not Rouhani. He is more Netanyahu. Only difference is Netanyahu can command the US to do what he wants and Kim will not follow any commands from the US. The rest of the world is watching our blind allegiance to Israel and that includes wily Kim.
1
It seems incredibly naive to talk about the collapse of the North Korea talks without mentioning China. Just a short time before the collapse, Kim made a (second) trip to Beijing. We can presume that Beijing thought it was losing control of the situation and pulled the leash on Kim.
6
Look, this whole summit thing was a bunch of nonsense to begin with. The whole "Nobel Peace Prize" foolishness just made the already surreal, more so.
Interesting that the Wall Street Journal web page had a more gentle-sounding headline:
Trump Strikes a More Hopeful Tone on North Korea
To all of you who are compelled to ridicule and criticize this president about the North Korea situation. You care nothing for the welfare of this country because you are so blinded by your hatred of this president that you will support nothing he does, ever.
If there is ever a time for Americans to stand together it is when we face an enemy which could, if left unrestricted, pose an existential threat to this country. That enemy has been arming itself and blatantly testing missiles throughout the terms of this last two presidents. Had Mr. Bush or Mr. Obama been more forceful, we would not be under the threat we face now. Now Mr. Trump is stuck with the task.
Every single one of you who ridicule this president in his efforts to contain North Korea is providing aid and comfort to Mr. Kim, one of the most ruthless dictators on the planet. Yet, you knowingly do that, because to do otherwise would require even a scintilla of support for Mr. Trump.
Then there are those of you who astonishingly voice greater esteem for Mr. Kim. You are the greatest danger to this country.
4
No - Trump, his administration and his followers are the problem. It is you, sir, who is blind
1
Given his titanic ego, there's a real danger here he'll give away the store to preserve his reputation as a deal-maker. That is, after all, his founding myth. Making matters wrose, he's never been as profligate as he's been when playing with other people's money, and he's never had more at his disposal.
2
Pompeo met Kim for secret talks, then had Bolton and Pence blow the deal out of the water to save Trump the embarrassment of terms weaker than Obama got from Iran. Forget Libya; the Iran deal is now the gold standard.
Trump then publishes a dumb letter saying "We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant." If it's totally irrelevant, why mention it? And "You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful ..." It's not enough that NK could blow Guam off the map. Or that our massive nuclear weapons would poison SK, Japan, Taiwan and wherever else the wind was blowing.
2
The best and biggest deal that Trump ever 'negotiated' was picking a German American New York City real estate baron father and a Scottish immigrant mother. With the exception of playing a businessman on a reality TV show every Trump business hss been a failure. Trump is a tiny tot compared to Queen Elizabeth II.
1
Sometimes I think 12-year old Barron Trump is running the country. But on second thought, could it be any worse?
3
I think his negotiating skills are like everything else about him....overrated and lies. Kim played him. Pence certainly played him by repeating the Bolton error. Of course Pence wants the top job so he doesn't want Trump to look good. It is all very sad that the USA has sunk so low, our credibility is shot.
Oddly, diplomacy involves
- patience
- long-term thinking
- a willingness to seek reasonable compromise
- a degree of empathy
- preparation
- paying attention
Put a check by each of these qualities possessed by Trump. And notice that an ability to wield a sledgehammer is not included.
7
Every ten year old kid who has witnessed, "the run up to a rumble," on his or her school yard, knows exactly what's going on; that is, between these two grown men, who happen to be Heads of State:
"...They're just like us...!"
How long does it take to grow up?
Trump's and Bolton's all or nothing policy does not recognize the realities of North and South Korea, China or anyone else in the area. It is pure fantasy that North Korea will be coerced by Trump into doing anything they do not see an advantage in doing. This is the true art of the deal where hard choices are made.
The South still needs the presence and support of the US military unless they increase their spending on defense significantly. The North still has a plan for taking over the rich South and imposing its will and all of this posturing and development of missals and nuclear weapons is part of this. But Trump has never known or considered the whole picture here and until then Trump will be played for the fool he is.
1
This failed "summit" was the result of a sledgehammer approach. It is what one would expect from Trump but the importance of this issue should have caused him to use actual professional negotiators before he and his non-professionals blabbed things that would have turned off anyone, especially someone who is as shrewd as Kim. His trouble is that he can never put himself in another's place and imagine what they might be thinking. Empathy and imagination are missing from him entirely and so we all suffer!
29
...meanwhile DRNK is begging him to come back to the negotiating table. Lilttle early there buddy.
4
It's, "DPRK," and I guess last week wasn't too early to start nattering about a Nobel Prize.
But please keep rationalizing arrogant nutbar behavior. It's entertaining.
Hyperbole. There's no begging going on. Trump did what he generally does when he first makes an impulsive decision. He starts to backtrack once he sees that his first decision is going over like a lead balloon. In this case, he stomped all over Moon Jae-in's initiatives with Kim Jong-un, embarrassing an important ally on the world stage, and undercutting months of careful interactions between the north and South Koreans. Trump is all about bait-and-switch. Ask anyone that ever signed up for Trump University. This time, though, he's playing nuclear tiddly-winks hoping to flip the chip into the cup, and walk away with a grin and a Nobel Peace Prize.
Kim Jung Un (and his predecessors) likely point to the fates of Mohamar Qaddaffi and Saddam Hussein--they gave up their nuclear weapons and ended up being murdered--and right or wrongly view nuclear weapons capability as the ticket to staying in power. As a consequence, there is no reason to believe Kim Jung Un will decide to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons program anytime soon.
Kim Jung Un, and his predecessors, cares about self-preservation more than economic development, so the notion that he would give up nuclear weapons in exchange for economic development is ludicrous.
The harsh reality for Trump is that diplomacy, in the real world, doesn't work like reality TV or his business dealings. Every country has their own self-interests--for better or for worse--and won't automatically roll over because you want them to.
1
Narcissistic business men always think that government deals are child's play compared with their own great achievements, though in Trump's his achievements are minuscule compared with his imagination. Of course such business men are wrong.
4
Did Thatcher behave any differently during the Falklands?
Perhaps it’s not just a male thing.
1
Revolutionary? Negotiating prowess and deal-making charm? Good grief, splash some water on your face, David.
4
I have great difficulty understanding why the Trump/Kim summit was taken seriously. Did everyone believe north Korea was going to give up its nuclear capabilities in exchange for a promise from Trump that he would leave Kim in power? Did everyone really think Kim was that stupid?
4
I am not in complete agreement that Trump's approach was bold and innovative. Rather, I believe he did what he knows how to do, not understanding that "Building Bridges" is very different from building bridges.
4
Our president got scared Mr. Kim had too much power in negotiations so he pulled out. And.. his business as usual reaction, "I'm more important" was sent to a dictator with nuclear capabilities.
The president can impact foreign policy much more so than economic policy. Elect a diplomat, not a power hungry, vain man. And right now our top diplomats have stepped down. So frustrating. Our democracy is cracking.
3
To me what is clear is that Mr. Sanger seems to have no understanding of basic negotiation, let alone distributive negotiation. This is an artful (figurative) game of cat-and-mouse in which the US has all the leverage and should end in a successful negotiation.
Successful negotiations typically end with both sides not fully content. Mr Trump has already shown some willingness to compromise, but no sign of giving up the farm. Let's see how this plays out; I'm sure Mr. Sanger will give no credit to Mr. Trump if he succeeds in denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Understand that the process will probably be drawn out.
6
So far, your negotiations genius has handed Kim and the other bad guys the following:
1. A face-to-face meeting, which the DPRK has wanted for fifty years.
2. Attacks on the South Korean economy.
3. Public statements about pulling our military from Korea, Japan, and the whole area.
4. Trashing TPP, which would have restrained China.
5. Offers to make Kim, "very, very rich, and secure."
In exchange, we've gotten four hostages back, one dead. And maybe a useless couple of tunnels blown up.
That there's some good shootin', Tex.
1
I find it odd that nobody seems to be discussing the fact that Trump can not guarantee his promises will be kept after he leaves office. Just as the present administration negated past US obligation so can future ones. Even a treaty approve by Congress can be rescinded. Where would that leave NK?
There needs to be real change in NK for a deal to stay in force, which involve social changes that don’t seem to be NK’s agenda right now.
It seems to me that it’s amateur hour in the WH & Foggy Bottom!
6
Never met a con artist yet who cares if the wheels fall off the amazing car that gets 100 MPG once he's twenty miles down the road.
You know Trump reads these reader comments.
What he wants most is unattainable.
3
I wonder whether the North Korean leadership trusts their airplanes enough to pack themselves onto one and fly all the way to Singapore. Or if they use two planes, do they trust each other enough to work out the details of who sits on which one, just in case one is shot down (by or despite the mighty N. Korean air force escort) or malfunctions, and only one group survives? Kim seems to prefer ground transportation, so I was a little surprised they agreed on Singapore, as opposed to the DMZ.
Excellent analysis.
Trump is behaving behaving like a petulant child - a bull in a china shop, so to speak. Exactly what is not needed in order to lessen the threat that North Korea brings to east Asia and the rest of the world.
Addressing the North Korean threat is a complicated chess game, much more complex and subtle than Trump has the experience, temperament, or expertise to handle.
The strong majority of America is ashamed that Trump is our President. Understand that, rest of the world.
7
Completely 100% agree. Trump thinks that over 60 years of a complex armistice can be solved in a matter of hours. If it had been that easy the issue with Korea would have long ago been solved
4
Sorry, according to an article in the New York Magazine, Trump is a deal breaker, not a deal maker. He has blown up all the deals we have made with our allies around the world so when he cancelled the NK summit, it didn't surprise me.
Examples:
Repealing Obamacare: failed
New Iran deal: failed
DACA: failed
TPP: no new deal
NAFTA: no new deal
Paris Climate Accord: no new deal
Tariffs: pulled back
North Korea: already backed out once
All of these contracts and deals he has destroyed, he promised to have a new deal made up. Has he done it? no and he never will. When he says he's going to make a new deal so we have to cancel the one we already have, he doesn't have anything to offer before he cancels. He has made a mess of this country and it's reputation around the world because of that. No one can trust him anymore. And the ONLY reason he cancels all these contracts with everyone is because Obama's name is on it.
I find it abhorrent that a president would destroy everything the previous president did. Maybe he could have made himself a name if he had built on the past instead of trying to start from scratch with everything.
He loves to destroy things, but never knows how to put them back together.
8
The Playbook may be facing a big test, however there is no doubt as to how the play will turn out. It will be the greatest play ever. Its outcome will put the US in the best position possible; a result no other president could have accomplished. It will be really big, we'll see, and it will all be because of Trump. That's how all of Trump's plays turn out.
1
Trump has not figured out that negotiations among Nations have more depth than those involved in buying/selling properties where estimations of value are key. This how we know Trump is not smart, or wise, or prepared for any type of negotiations within Country, much less without. He does not recognize his failings which constitute a disrespect for other Leaders and Countries. Essentially, the US is leaderless because our Government is bereft of people currently who do understand and are capable of knowing and dealing with what is at stake between NOK and the US.
5
Trump probably believe that his letter ends the history and, his attention attracted by a shiny object, will move to another victim...
No fallout; so gets back to disparage subalterns or foes and play golf!
Sorry, Trump, there will be consequences and they will be huge:
1. Nobody trusts the USA anymore, including England and Germany.
2. Taiwan is doomed, China will settle its problem before 2020.
3. NK and SK will make some kind of a deal under China approval.
4. Japan will get his nuclear weapons, they just cannot trust the USA anymore.
5. China will dominate China sea and South-Pacific and all Asian low-cost manufacturing power and shipping sea lines.
The good news, Russia, and China will make sure of your reelection in 2020 but you have to remain to play golf dutifully. and sow havoc in EU and Middle-East as a good dog of war.
9
I know Americans don't have the best eating habits. But, I never thought they could swallow this much garbage, day after, after day, after day. I feel bloated just looking at it.
9
Trump insisted in the 2016 campaign that his presidency would be as successful as his businesses, and he appears to be right on that one.
Unfortunately with his blind followers, failure is success and success is failure.
7
This infuriating article presupposes that Trump has some sort of "revolutionary" and "bold and innovative approach" - are you kidding?
President Man-Baby just shouts, cries, whines and threatens, and then accepts meetings and coos kind words to dangerous dictators with zero thought or consideration as to the implications.
There is no grand strategy here, quite simply because the "strategist" has no capacity for considered, calculated thought whatsoever. (The strategist doesn't even read, mind you.)
The Times should be careful not to legitimize the White House's version of King Lear.
4
This is another pathetic attempt to normalize the president and pretend there is some strategy behind his flailing, ego-driven incompetence.
"The techniques involved in negotiating real estate"? The techniques that led to five bankruptcies?
It was not "bold and innovative" but rather ill-prepared, ill-considered and badly executed. So much so that our ally did not even know, yesterday, "what Mr. Trump is doing."
Pretending this is the result of some grand strategy is beyond credulous. I expect more from the NYT.
4
Small Point: Hard to have much confidence in anyone, say Pompeo, Cruz, Rick Tyler - who don't even know that Kim's family name is Kim and not Un... Don't these people at least have staff to guide them on these things if not their own curiosity to learn?
3
Kim is playing this President like a Stradivarius.
4
As scary as is the prospect of more nuclear weapons in the arsenals of more countries, what I can never understand is why the US, the country with the largest and most sophisticated nuclear arsenal and the only country to have used those weapons to kill people, has the right to tell other countries they are not allowed to have nuclear weapons. Why should other countries agree to that, especially in an era where we have a president who wants to increase and "modernize" our own nuclear capability? He even threatens to use our nuclear weapons...again. The arrogance of the US is mind-boggling.
4
Why do people keep giving Trump credit for having some "Playbook" or strategy of any kind. He is running all affairs like a reality TV show.
4
Negotiating playbook? That would require both strategy and some wins. All Trump has done is backed out of or destroyed existing agreements and treaties without replacements. The Paris Treaty. NAFTA. TPP, Iran. Where something was once in place, now there is nothing, or the United States is no longer part of it.
I miss President Obama, who understood that there is an entire world beyond the U.S. border, much less whatever room he was in at the time.
7
"But it was already becoming clear to Mr. Trump and his team that the techniques involved in negotiating real estate do not translate easily into negotiations over nuclear weapons." Thus the NYT positions itself as a cross-disciplinary expert on the various skills applicable to both real estate deals and diplomacy. The incentives offered by Trump to sweeten the deal, however, are not mutually exclusive. All along Trump has not only touted the economic benefits to NK of a deal but coupled that incentive with a promise not to engage in regime change. He has been very clear about that. The ups and downs of negotiating deals include walking away from the table and then possibly returning. It's all part of the game. Why does the NYT think that the process is necessarily over and that it is already time to do an autopsy on the corpse? Such premature judgment only characterizes the ghouls in the Democratic Party who are already hungering for Trump's flesh even though the future of the world may be at stake. Why is the NYT so eager to join the feast instead of being willing to sit back and reserve judgment until this thing is played out? Maybe we'll all learn something from the master of the deal.
3
"Why does the NYT think that the process is necessarily over and that it is already time to do an autopsy on the corpse? "
The answer is obvious - they want Trump to fail no matter what it means or the consequences would be.
2
If his business record is any guide, Trump will fail and fail again by repeating the same mistakes and then claim success.
1
Mr. Trump isn't a negotiator, he is a bully. He is profoundly ignorant of the history and culture of North Korea. His inability to use people more knowledgeable than himself so he let the State Department dissolve under his administration.
His braggadocio and undisciplined approach will hurt our country more than anyone else.
9
and I can't believe that in a country like US there are people who are proud of this ignorant thing called President of the US...
9
It would be great if the media stopped perpetuating this myth that Mr. Trump has any negotiating skills, let a lone some sort of deal making playbook at his disposal. Have we seen any evidence that he is some sort of deal-making marvel during his time in office? No we have not.
Rather, there is substantial evidence to the contrary.
11
"Trump’s Negotiating Playbook"
now that's a joke. Trump doesn't have a playbook.
And he could not read and comprehend one .
9
Trump's narcissism and insistence on doing whatever makes sense to him is a big problem. As Condoleeza Rice told him, some kind of deal could be negotiated by his secretary of state, not complete elimination of NK nukes, but a step in the direction of peace. However, Trump would not be controlling it minute by minute. Trump likes to appear super strong, the man who always calls the shots. The US hasn't been in that position since the 1940s. Bolton and to some extent Pence and Pompeo like authoritarian cruelty- rub their face in it, make them grovel. No nuclear power will negotiate on such terms.
7
" Mr. Kim would be willing to give it all up for the promise.."
And the world has seen what "promises" from the fake president really mean: nothing at all. Couple that with "as if on cue" clueless Bolton's mention of the "Libyan model" and Pompeo's glib assertions that an agreement with NK would be the "same as the Iran", and you have an inevitable failure.
And the minting of those commemorative coins? The fake president should PERSONALLY (I realize he probably has no clue what that means) reimburse the Treasury for that ghastly and embarrassing fiasco.
The traitor in the WH is treated unnecessarily kindly in this piece. What about the juvenile wording of that letter sent to Kim? "If you change your mind"?!?! Absurd! No mention it was HE who cancelled, not Kim? How can that stand without robust editorial rebuke? What's going on, Sanger?
8
Bungling our way to armageddon, one step at a time...
9
Trump is way out of his depth here. He must be realizing that by now.
6
We have two dictators (Kim in reality, Trump in aspiration) wrestling dangerously while their bloodthirsty wing men (John Bolton and Choe Ryong-hae) whisper to their respective leaders that muscle beats wisdom and the lessons of history. As both despots unspool, Kim is proving to be the wilier -- crazy or not, he seems to understand that he's leading a country, strategy matters and preparation is a key. Trump, on the other hand, is a B-list manager who has left a string of failed ideas and six bankruptcies behind him, cares nothing for strategy, preparation or advice; he believes running a country is like managing a business. Both men are on the road to failure. What remains to be seen is who gets there first and if they take down the rest of the planet with them -- they're completely ill-suited to make decisions and deals of this magnitude. We can't constrain Kim, but it's in our power to keep Trump in check -- it's way past time for the Republican House to act like a co-equal branch of government and constrain a president who's so obviously out of his depth and out-of-control.
6
Trump is so afraid of being played that he shot himself in the foot with Kim, Xi, and Putin.
4
Why would North Korea blithely accept any deal from a person who lies like a rug multiple times a day, cheats those he does business with, cons his customers, and made "the swamp" twice as bad, at least, instead of draining it? And we haven't even gotten to having someone like Bolten shooting off his mouth.
Given that, NK is going to assume bad acting from the US and continue to thwart any agreement that comes with this administration whenever it sees fit. That would have been so for any "regular" President at this time, but with Trump and a Trump-dominated Republican party in power? I doubt Kim and NK would give up its most powerful bargaining chip and biggest claim to any prestige in this world. Ever. Especially not after seeing what has happened to other countries that did.
5
The Art of the Flop.
8
Who am I? Nobody, but I believe I understand the dynamics of nuclear power better than our President. I have never heard an American official before claim that we are more powerful because we have a bigger arsenal.
It's like this, Mr. President. Mr. Kim has the detinator to explosives under your daughter's bedroom. You have the detonator to explosives under his whole house. This does not make you more powerful. It means he can blow up a member of your family. Just stop there. And that is why the Iran deal was so good. They do not yet have such a detinator but will soon because you pulled out of the deal.
Mr. Kim knows that his nuclear capability is the only reason you want to meet with him. And thank you for reminding him what happens when you give it up, as Gaddafi did.
I think I understand the consequences of nuclear armament. I don't understand your strategy.
94
Don’t forget he also molested women and thus he should not be president and making presidential choices: like Supreme Court and dealings with foreign powers. They all should be resended.
2
As this whole affair unfolded it became clearer to me that Trump is being played by elements of his party and outplayed by Kim Jung-un. Trump thinks he is is charge but it really is Pence, Bolton and that ilk playing his ego and calling the shots. Trump may have been led to believe that this affair was Nobel Prize worthy and I am not unwilling to believe that it was a seed planted in his mind by certain individuals as a Big Mac to assuage his insatiable ego, while something else unfolded. DJT's ego might have wanted to be seen as a peace broker, but he has surrounded himself with the competing interests of war hawks. Does anyone think Bolton mentioned Libya to the NK by mistake? And considering NKs response was Pence's regurgitation of the same analogy this week by chance? Did the Pence faction of the party want to scuttle the meeting from the beginning even while telling DJT it could earn him the Nobel? Some claim that they scuttled the meeting before Kim to gain a perceptive advantage but it doesn't explain why Bolton and Pence purposefully brought up Libya knowing Kim's concerns, and why the admin would install another Hawk as ambassador to South Korea on the same day.
2
Mature statesman would know that the correct way to have strategic negotiations is to avoid making public inflammatory statements, and leave the posturing for private meetings. Trump's obsession with Twitter and the implied threats from Bolton and Pence that Kim will end up like Qaddafi if Kim doesn't accede to our demands make it unlikely Trump will sport a Nobel Prize on his mantel. Perhaps he can try for a Pulitzer for his Tweets?
3
There's a driving force behind all human behavior, (including DT and Kim Jong Un.) It's individual psychology. One's beliefs. The way one think. One's fears/phobias/demons. The strategies that help us feel safe & secure & contribute to our survival--and help us reach our goals.
Cultural norms (East v West etc) also influence one's motivating psychology. So, the more that's understand about ourselves & others, the more productive is our communication & our strategies for achieving our goals.
Unfortunately, with this serious opportunity on his plate, DT hasn't an inkling of any of that. In fact, he doesn't even understand himself. It's clear, he's one of the most un-self-aware president's ever. Instead, he relies on impulse, his mood of the moment, and his automatic ego-preserving tactics, like bullying childish name calling, and smearing anyone who challenges him.
Thus he's unpredictable & incapable of depth, insight or understanding anyone else, like KJU. Instead, to get what he wants, he uses simple cause and effect relationships like he used to con enough voters in just the right states to think he's one of them to get an electoral win.
But those same superficial conning tactics are not working on Kim Jong Un. Kim's to savvy for that.
So, the question is, does Trump's narcissistic need to win the Nobel Peace Prize (and show Obama) force him to change his errant mindless ways to get a deal with Kim? We'll have to wait and see.
1
Not completely sure where the insight or research for this article comes from. Past negotiations by former administrations with Asia have not been successful. Henry Kissinger when negotiating with North Vietnam rented rooms in a 5 star Paris Hotel for 2 or 3 months. The Vietnamese leased an apartment for 2 years. The North was prepared for a long time process. Need to cut the President some slack. Let him try his way and show some support.
1
It’s not day care donny, it’s the whole GOP/NRA that has brought us this reality tv show.
They want him in there. Party before country.
1
Got to give the NYT credit. Professionally breaking down Trumps action as if they were well conceived and part of an intelligent strategy. But the truth is he’s just winging it and bumbling through this. He’s a complete dope and really doesn’t deserve this kind of thoughtful analysis.
4
Trump's history of real estate dealings is rife with fraud, theft, dishonesty and empty threats - just ask ANY contractor in NYC. His "branding" company (one that produces nothing of value to society) is private, so he never had a Board of Trustees to whom to answer - so he always did whatever he wanted with no accountability.
THIS miscreant is the person that his deluded base elected (far from a popular majority, I must add) to office, even against a flawed opponent. He possesses no mandate and has done nothing but destroy norms for the sake of destruction. Out of the Paris Accord - no replacement. Out of the 8
Iran deal - no replacement. Out of NAFTA - probably, and no replacement. Out of everything he can destroy - no solutions. OUT OF HIS MIND - absolutely.
Trump is a pathologically lying, cheating, amoral, unethical crook who is playing with the most basic values of our country. No plan, no truth, no regard for the rule of law. Those who support him are guilty of the same by enabling his actions, and I sincere.y hope that they find a spine prior to the next election or they will be swept into political oblivion to the cheers of those of us who have worked so hard to give our children a civil, safe society.
2
Well done article but does not detail the total ineptude and lack of diplomacy by Trump, even worse Pompeo, and stupider by Bolton. The three made comments about how they had forced Kim to the conference table through their power tactics that Kim tried to correct. Real strong arm tactics by Pompeo starting with his stop in Israel on the way to North Korea. Pompeo was head of CIA and is now Secretary of State. But, he was and is the epitome of the backward, shortsighted, and primitive House Republican right wing. Terrible as a diplomat.
2
Trump had one important idea which he pushed in the 2016 election. He pointed out that illegal immigration was in fact destroying the country over time. Unfortunately he also used inflammatory rhetoric which undercut his arguments. Very little has been done on stopping the flow of illegal immigrants.
Many of his other positions were just plain wrong. He demonized China. But in 1979, under Deng Xiaoping, China adopted a one-child policy which lowered the rate of population growth, and enabled China to improve living standards of more slowly growing number of people. His successors were able to build up the Chinese economy so that it now competes successfully with the US in many industries.
Perhaps the shouting match with Kim Jong Un will have no lasting repercussions---I don't know. But compared to the US, China has exerted its power quietly with no bellicose statements. Trump seems outclassed in these negotiations.
Add to this Trump's repudiation of the agreement with Iran and his moving the Israel embassy to Jerusalem, and you have an overall performance in foreign policy which is disastrous.
Would Hillary have been less bad? I just don't know. The campaign was dominated by charges of harassment on both sides. Hillary abandoned the universal health care she championed when Bill was president, and replaced it with hysteria about sexual harassment.
Our democracy is not functioning folks. The Chinese autocracy is winning. And we have only ourselves to blame.
3
Hillary would have been much better.
1
For progress to occur, the president needs to put a muzzle on Bolton and Mike Pence. Pence says North Korea will end up like Libya and he's right--if the North Koreans do what Pence recommends, they will indeed end up like Libya.
3
He needs to muzzle himself too!
Having worked for a wheeler-dealer CEO like Trump, supremely confident and addicted to doing deals, the bluster, head-fakes, walk-aways, threats and flattery get tired really fast. And once the tactic has been deployed, word gets out, and the next deal is much tougher, until it finally fails. On the international diplomatic stage, under the scrutiny of the worldwide press, it might work once, but now everyone knows we have a bluffer as president.
4
Ms Daniels has a bigger deal in the works , but we’ll see , we’ll see
This author sees accurately that Trump’s means, his tactics—bully, threaten, bluster, flatter--come from his life-long experience in real estate and business, but what he fails to appreciate is that the end is also the same as in Trump’s private career: overweening, narcissistic, self-interest. Mr. Sanger like many others have failed to take the measure of Trump’s appallingly weak and limited character, and specifically, his inability to conceive of any interest, political, national, or human, that is larger and more important than his own compulsive desire to aggrandize himself (thus his boasts about the Nobel Peace Prize before the meeting was even finalized).
Trump can’t say to himself “Bullying has worked for me in real estate; therefore it might also work in getting a good deal for the purposes of peace on the Korean Peninsula and American security.” The kind way to put this is that Trump’s own self-aggrandizement is always going to be more important than such ends; probably the more accurate version is that he simply doesn’t care, is incapable of caring about peace in Korea, or even American security. He cares about himself. He can’t use bullying as a tactic simply because he is a bully. One can’t step outside of one’s own character.
5
There are honest real estate dealers, and there are dishonest real estate dealers. Anyone who had been on the planet for the last few years, and wasn't living under a rock, knew which category Trump belonged to. They owe the country an apology. But an ever great apology is owed by all the GOP toadies and opportunists who continue to enable him.
13
Trump is not a deal maker, he's a deal breaker.
The TPP, the Paris Accords, the Iranian deal all ripped up. But he looks incompetent when he tears these agreements apart be cause he lies about the deals as he goes...or he's ignorant and uninformed. We've all watched him lie about Nafta for 2 years, but it's doubtful that all of his claims about Nafta are lies, he just doesn't know anything and won't listen to anyone who does know anything.
Trump does understand that his base will listen to everything he says and believe him without fact-checking him and he knows the GOP is terrified of crossing him.
Trump has no strategy, no playbook other than pander to the base with lies and lots of red meat.
10
His book that was titled, "The Art of the Deal" should be now known as the "The Art of the Steal"!
Trump only wants to negotiate when he or his family benefits the most!
4
tRump is only distracting attention, again, from the Russia conspiracy investigation facing him, from Robert Mueller. We are not distracted. At least, I'm not. We know he's guilty, and did conspire with Russia. I can actually think about more than one political issue, at a time. I suspect most of us can do the that.
5
The Art of No Deal.
1
This ‘analysis’ misses the elephant in the room- China. China threw the last minute monkey wretch to regain negotiating leverage. Is it a coincidence that right after the collapse of the ZTE and trumps trade demands NK suddenly made 180 degrees turn to walk away? And right after Kim met Chinese prez. Probably not. Chinese need negotiating leverage going forward and they decided to put NK back on the table, simple. That does not mean that trumps tactic was wrong or that it did not work. Compared to previous administrations this time we got to the summit quite effectively and fast before the Chinese changed their mind.
1
President Trump does not know how to negotiate with other countries. along with many other things he is ignorant about.
2
Evaluating what went wrong and then setting out a new strategic course based on a careful study of alternative pathways is not in the DNA of this administration. Expect more petulance, bluster, threats, and living on the brink.
4
This situation only goes to prove that whatever skills DJT may have parlayed into a television show, inane books, bankruptcy and bullying folks of lesser resources, he goes absolutely nowhere when dealing with the real world. You would think his followers would realize that DJT has accomplished absolutely nothing to benefit their interests except give the 1% more money. I guess this proves that phony skills, as described above are never transferrable, especially where the intellect behind those alleged 'accomplishments' is sorely hindered by an ego that seeks the approval of his base only. Scary.
2
The writer assumes that North Korea is similiar to other countries. Mr. Kim murdered his brother in public, boasted about killing his uncle, and operates labor camps with hundreds of thousands of men women and children. It was the North Koreans who first threatened to pull out of talks. The only thing Mr Kim wants from the US is a removal of military forces from South Korea. Until Mr Moon of the South is willing to let that happen, the North will play nice.
1
Look
A minority of the American voters placed President Trump in the White House because of his business success and his negotiating prowess.
With Trump University
Trump Airlines
New Jersey Generals
Trump Casinos
Trump the Magazine
Trump Steaks
6 bankruptcies
a minority endorsed his "only I can fix it" brand of hubris, ignorance, and risk taking.
Now Trump has nuclear codes, Right Reverend Pence, Grand Kleagle Kelly, Bolton and Hannity as his"brain Trust".
and,
the nuclear codes.
Get your summit commemorative coin today!
6
Mr. Sanger, please. Ego, bullying, ignorance and chaos does not qualify as a "bold and innovative approach." Stop trying to make sense of nonsense. Get out of the bubble and get some perspective. "One worth trying..." Give me a break.
6
Well said.
1
My grandmother had a yiddish expression, "Man zeigt nicht ein nahr keinen halben arbeit", roughly meaning, don't show a fool a half completed job. Some patience, let's see how it plays out.
Does this mean he has to now give back the Nobel Peace Prize?
3
Trump is destroying America. Trump attacks all our Democratic institutions; FBI;DOJ; News Media. Trump is the bully we knew he is. Threatening a punch in the gut; but a coward at heart; as all bullies are. Trump is the biggest LOSER America has ever had. Trump alienated ALL our allies; Europe; Asia S America; Mexico; Canada. Breaking our word on treaties ; the Iran Nuclear Deal ; Paris Climate Accord. Trump broke Americas word. Why would any country in the world trust America? Ray Sipe
4
Failure implies that the negotiations are over. They are just beginning. Time will tell if he is or is not successful.
1
Kim simply out-trumped Trump, who has demonstrated time and again that there are no real strategies behind the bluster and cavalier actions, be it the steel and aluminum debacle or the latest proposed tariffs on foreign vehicles. Kim began this charade by testing missiles that could reach the U.S. before feigning rapprochement with S. Korea to bask in the global spotlight only to conspire with China shortly after to pull the carpet from under Trump's feet. The White House is no home for a simple mind.
5
This con-man can't make a deal with our closest allies: Mexico, France, Germany, et al. He's already made the only deal that matters to him, with KGB officer Putin. He's a traitor; stop normalizing him with analyses that imply he's working in the interests of the USA.
8
Trump is constrained by the idiotic mistakes of the previous administration. Obama and Clinton decided under the cover of the "Arab Spring" to initiate regime change in Libya, sending an unambiguous message to the like of Kim in N. Korea.
Way to rewrite history. Bush and the neocons were responsible for the Arab Spring, and the "Libyan model".
2
You conveniently forget Afghanistan and Iraq, under 8 years of Bush. Blind spot much?
2
@ Steve
No one would accuse you of accuracy. The "Arab Spring" occurred well after Bush was gone. Obama and Clinton decided to use it as an excuse to remove Gaddafi. The Bush administration successfully de-nucked Lybia.
Hitler signed a peace treaty with Chamberlain in 1938 and a mutual nonaggression pact with Stalin. Neither agreement was worth anything. The US signed a treaty with Iran and then reneged.
What is the point? How can anyone trust Trump?? Or Kim?
4
All this is irrelevant. The US just withdrew from another treaty it signed, the Iranian deal.
Any treaty with the US means absolutely nothing if a newly elected president can just quit deals at will.
6
Heavy handed, loose cannon negotiating tactics that amount to schoolyard bullying and playing bad cop/good cop might work when making shady high end real estate deals when you're the CEO, Chairman of the Board and majority stockholder of your own real estate branding company but that won't work when you're leader of the most powerful nation in the world. It's not all about you and you have to be very careful what you say. Trump's bull in a china shop diplomacy only shows how brutish and unthinking Trump and by extension America can be.
And I disagree. Trying something you know probably won't work wastes time and energy and may have unintended negative consequences like alienating allies and confusing the picture. Can the summit recover from Trump's gaffe? Only time will tell but it is certainly not an auspicious beginning. And soon Trump may get so tied up in the Mueller probe that he doesn't have any time or energy to do anything else.
5
Trust is something that takes forever to establish, and is gone forever in an instant.
4
Trump seems to think that he is selling peace, happiness and security. It's the salesman as president. Except in the geopolitical world, the salesman is the rube who makes a fool of himself by demonstrating ignorance of history, the scope of issues, and the nature of negotiation. The salesman has one product and wants one thing in return, money. That is Trump world. But, in international relations, it is never a one for one exchange. Moreover, sheer force of personality is meaningless among states. Personality, and money, may work with the Cohen's and Daniel's of the Trump scene, but it won't work with Putin, Xi, Kim, Merkel or Nieto. Putin figured out Obama in a hurry and ran him over. When N. Korea labeled Trump a dotard, they obviously were not impressed. The bigger button confirmed their estimation and proved that Trump's threats are meaningless, like Obama's red line on chemical weapons in Syria. The lesson of course is don't vote for a rookie. Or a salesman.
6
Let's take a quick look at our Supreme Negotiator's scorecard. Mr. Trump pulled the U.S. out of TPP to the dismay of our allies; buried us in prolonged and fruitless "negotiations" over NAFTA with our enormously irritated neighbors; pulled us out of the Paris climate pact – again slapping the face of our allies, not to mention the rest of the world; ignored the pleadings of our allies – again – and withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal; threatens trade wars by imposing tariffs (and is proposing even more) on our friends and neighbors; and, now, walked blindly into a corner with North Korea, bedazzled and beguiled by visions of the Nobel Peace Prize. Is there any form of national and international stability that this President, who surrounds himself with amateurs and monomaniacs, can't blow up?
13
Did any sensible person really expect more from a president with no experience in deal making (despite Trump’s claims)? North Korea has clearly outsmarted Trump although truthfully it’s not that difficult to do. Trump uses elementary school playground bully negotiation skills, which are not difficult to circumvent. I haven’t given up yet on a North Korean deal but clearly other tactics will have to be used.
6
Is snotty what now passes for analysis?
Trump’s Antics got Kim to offer denuclearization as a possibility though the Times employs many who insist that Kim has no idea what Trump means by that.
So give the rear world model of what happens when it is done right.
Apparently nothing, based on decades of the smarties doing their thing, except Kim gets the ability to destroy the US fifteen minutes after he orders a launch.
Then the smarties explain how this is good.
So wise.
1
Kim never agreed to denuclearization. He agrees to stop further testing.
The president has shown himself, once again, to be a fraud; he's not the master of the deal but a master of the blustery blunder.
To think that any American would expect a wilfully ignorant, semi-illiterate, political neophyte and New York City real estate shyster could wing his way through world affairs to Nobel prize worthy success is ludicrous.
I reject the notion that people like myself wish the president to fail. The man is an abject failure. (Anything his voters credit him with rests on the fact that Republicans hold all levers of power. A monkey could have signed the bills Republicans passed. And Gorsuch is McConnell's doing.)
The responsibility of my fellow Americans, who have put this incompetent into the highest office in the land is enormous. They owe the American people an apology for putting our great nation into this deplorable and dangerous situation. This ends only one way; the man goes down in disgrace.
13
Trumps negotiating is like the sheriff in Blazing Saddles when he puts a gun to his own head and says " everybody stand back or the sheriff gets it". war with North Korea is a huge bluff that everyone know would have devastating consequences similar to shooting yourself in the head to win an argument, but than again no one every accused Trump of being rational. Playing chicken never works out well for anyone, especially, all the other chickens.
6
Mr. Trumps's greatest flaw is that he thinks transactionally not strategically. His mendacity, narcissism and racism also add to his long list of non-presidential traits.
7
When I think of "successful and astute business people and deal makers," I think of.. well, successful people like Bloomberg or Buffet, to name two. Persons who actually built businesses while making money for their investors. Not a guy who made his dough licensing his name onto buildings, building golf courses, and fleeing through bankruptcy courts. Tell me, how do you lose money running a casino, when the marks walk in and essentially give you their money? Unless, the point was to pretend lose money so you could launder it for the Russian mafia.
Hey.. small contractors in the mid-West who voted for Don the Con" He stiffed lots of people just like you. How did you make that inconvenient fact go away? Oh, I forgot, emails.
8
There's no actual playbook. Or, if there is, it was written by someone else.
2
If there was one, for Trump's benefit, it would have had to have lots of pictures. It's obvious he can't read.
3
As someone whose husband had keys to a Nuclear Detachment Site, during the Regan era, and using our weapons as a threat to Russia, in order to bring down the Wall, I know of what I speak. The World only understands one thing, Strength, you never negotiate without that threat, or you are seen as weak, by an insane man like the Dictator of North Korea! By the way, the proper way to address him is, President Trump!
2
Never.
3
North Korea now front and center on Trump's reality show. Part of his mid-term political campaign really.
The people in Trump's orbit have always allowed him to believe that he was a successful businessman and master negotiator, as long as he threw some money their way, because he was never important enough for it to matter much. It didn't matter that Trump water failed or Trump steaks or Trump shuttle. His enablers can't hide the truth now.
6
To characterize the Trump-directed effort as “bold and innovative” is, once again, straining to portray this administration as having some bit of credibility and understanding of the world. Ain’t so!
9
Trump is desperate for a meeting with or without any fruit to have a meeting with Kim Jung-Un. He and his puppets are dreaming to win Noble Prize. Nobody knows the unpredictable Kim Jung-un but it is sure that he wants recognition from American president from the point of strength. Meeting between these two leaders is good whatever the result. If there is meeting , then it is a great victory for Kim and a great defeat to Trump ( and America) .
2
President Trump's reputation as a deal maker is based upon a book written by a ghost writer who has reported at length on how difficult it was to get time with Trump, or information from him. The ghost writer has made it clear that (a) he had to make up most of the book, working from very little information; and (b) he regrets his role in creating this book -- the foundation of Trump's empty reputation as a deal maker -- more than anything else in his life. The truth about Trump's business career is that he was always lousy at deal making. That truth is playing out in his Presidency as well, and it is hurting the country.
1
Looks like Donald got outmaneuvered on his North Korea “initiative”. Now, he has to try to start again and in a weakened position. Come to think of it, most of his global efforts have been marred by false starts and little gain. So sad.
4
The myth that what we need in the Presidency "is a good businessman" has been blown up by Trump. Like Herbert Hoover in the depression Trump is wading in waters he is not familiar with nor experienced in. The bully tactics of New York real estate don't work internationally. But, will Trump ever learn?
4
There have been other summit meetings that were on-again, off-again in U.S. history. One difference this time is the "dance" is played out publicly, via Twitter and constant surmising in some media, often without facts, regarding the behind-the-scenes negotiations.
Even if the two controversial leaders do eventually meet, we shouldn't expect immediate, lasting results. Those who do will be sorely disappointed because an arduous, fraught path lies ahead.
I believe this is an opportune time for Congress to PUBLICLY advocate on behalf of diplomacy, whether the summit happens or not. It's a good time for Congress to reassert its Constitutional power and remind President Trump (and John Bolton!) that it is the authority of the legislative branch of government, not the executive branch, to declare war.
Diplomacy is working, even if it doesn't look that way right now...it offers the best course for steering our country and the world away from the catastrophe that renewed war on the Korean peninsula would bring.
3
I would think that a continuing meeting, held in the Peace Zone, lasting 50 years would be preferable to talk of nuclear war. Peace after -- what, 60 something years?--: What would it look like? Talking not bombing? Life not Death? As Churchill said: Jaw jaw not war war.
2
Despite claims of great deal making, Trump has never been such a great dealmaker. He started out with a huge inheritance, burned through that with a lot of failed deals, went bankrupt (multiple times) and found his niche selling his name (and laundering money). He’s done far more deal breaking than deal making.
10
I think that Trump is in way over his head but I am not going to make any predictions how this turns out. Both Trump and Kim and bonkers so there is no reason to think that this would follow normal diplomatic protocol anyway.
1
I was wondering if anybody can cite any historical examples of where a nation more powerful by orders of magnitude strategically and economically than another permitted the other to threaten it with total destruction as NK has to the U.S.and its allies and have the leaders of the tolerant giant admired for
their patience?
Per David Sanger's opening paragraph, he asserted that "President Trump attempted a revolutionary approach to North Korea — a gamble that negotiating prowess and deal-making charm in a face-to-face meeting with Kim Jong-un could accomplish what no American president or diplomat had dared to attempt in the 65 years since an uneasy armistice settled over the Korean Peninsula."
You have got to be kidding, right.
There are no deals with Trump, and there are increasingly unlikely to be. Not on NAFTA. Not on trade with China.
Not on Iran. Not on Israel-Palestinian peace. Etc.
On North Korea, Trump spontaneously (without any planning and groundwork before announcing the meeting and over the fears of his advisers) agreed to meet KimJong-un whose family, for three generations, has made the acquisition of nuclear weapons the centerpiece of its national security. Trump's negotiating strategy was to demand that the Kim dynasty completely give them up. How surprised are we that it didn't work out?
Trump loves to brag about accomplishments, regardless of whether they are, in fact, accomplished.
As Susan Glasser wrote in The New Yorker, "Trump is a much better dealbreaker than dealmaker. . . . So isn’t it about time to stop buying into Trump as the great dealmaker he ceaselessly proclaims himself to be?"
There has always been a disparity between Trump’s self-promotion as the master negotiator and the reality. He's a terrible negotiator and a fake dealmaker.
6
in other words, negotiations with NK are not meant for apprentices.
5
This was a fumble. The risk is that we fumbled and lost yardage. In this game the failure to get closer to peace leaves us closer to war.
If the war was "winnable," in a conventional military sense, it would be one thing. We do not, however, face a conventional threat. We face a nuclear exchange. A nuclear exchange leaves only losers. The only winner is the undertaker, except that the damage will be so great that the dead will lie unburied in charred heaps for centuries.
There is no evidence that this quarterback is capable of recovering the lost yardage. Time for the Republican leadership to wake up and remove the menace they created through the 25th Amendment.
1
What an a**!
5
Trump - you failed - FAILED. SAD!
6
The man is so boring and such a failure.
5
Even though I have little sympathy with, or understanding of Mr. Trump and his presidency, he is really not the bad guy here. Unless people really mean he should follow the Clinton/Bush/Obama-approach, i.e. absolutely nothing that reduces the suffering og the North Korean people, or the tension on the Korean peninsuula.
1
It is a tough situation and it goes back way beyond the administrations you mentioned. China and the U.S. plus the Koreas are in kind of a "dysfunctional balance" where if nothing is done things may simmer or just get progressively worse. If, however, you try to tweak things it can get worse faster. I think we are stuck with keeping up sanctions while providing humanitarian relief and at the same time showing a strong military presence in the south. We should stay away from any inflammatory statements. There are numerous scholarly works by some really smart people who have analyzed the situation and say that there is almost nothing that can be done to resolve the situation in any sort of timeline. It needs to play out until somebody reasonable gets in power in the North, or the North does something so extreme that even China comes to our side, or something along those lines. It is not a quick fix. We have been providing humanitarian relief for many years, so I would disagree that nothing has been done to reduce suffering.
Trumps word is worthless; N Korea got what they wanted; recognition. After Parkland; Trump said he would do something; crickets. Today; a shooting in Indiana, School shooting in Indiana today. DO SOMETHING 21 to purchase guns; real backround checks; no assault weapons. Ray Sipe
2
Please stop any references to Trump as a negotiator. He has failed in so many businesses. He like to change the terms after the work was done (as in not paying the people he hired). He lied about the Stormy Daniels case (he didn't know about it, then he paid back his lawyer in installments). Before Putin, he was a self-made myth, but the media (along with the archaic Electoral College and too many gullible voters) brought him to the top. And it's dangerous for all of us.
9
What deal has Trump made since taking office? Not on DACA, TPP, healthcare, Mexico paying for the wall, immigration reform, the Paris climate accords, stopping school gun violence, infrastructure, opioid epidemic plans, protecting election integrity, working with Democrats, trade with China or revamping NAFTA.
So far, the achievement has been limited to lowering corporate taxes and easing taxes on people in his supposed income bracket. This emperor has no deals.
9
So, now, acting like a spoiled brat and a despotic bully willing to start a nuclear war to assuage his over inflated ego is a negotiation tactic?
5
trump can light-up everyone else's kitchen, but he can't take the heat in his own kitchen!
trump initiated his 'negotiating' with 12+ months of threats and name calling. And now he cries foul? Disingenuous!
trump sent Pompeo to do the ground work; Pompeo was the right step and he fulfilled his role.
Then, trump set his own table of failure and invited Bolton for dessert. Ultimately, trump had to find a reason to back out of the Summit while Kim is parroting trump.
As we approach mid-terms, trump doesn't want an(other) international failure in the headlines hanging on the neck of every GOP candidate like an albatross.
But it's too late, we have all already smelled the bad fish.
3
Don't know about you, but I'm getting really tired of all this winning.
5
Why should the newly-appointed head of the NSA immediately start appearing in television interviews and begin sabotaging the summit by bringing up the incendiary "Libyan model"? This does not compute.
Safe to assume here is another narcissist who craves attention at the risk of world peace.
President Trump, sir, get rid of Bolton -- please.
7
While I agree with your analysis of Mr. Moon´s role and importance I disagree with the implication that Trump followed an "innovative approach" , an approach that would require a certain plan that was more detailed than just "I win , you lose!". Trump´s mental capacity does not allow for this. All he knows is the bully behavior. And that behavior does not work when you meet another bully just as sick as yourself. I think the best scenario now would be to appoint a special envoy or ambassador to be in charge - and to start negotiations with N-Korea, outside the spotlights and in secrecy, and involving China, who is the only party with real clout in this asian game.
4
You are wrong. Kim understood exactly what Trump is and how to play the game. Trump thinks he can declare bankruptcy if things go wrong and leave the rest of the world holding the bag. The rest of the world is going to get tired of these tactics.
3
What evidence is there that Kim does not understand Trump? It sure looks like Kim has Trump's number.
7
As was promised during the campaign, "you will all get tired of winning, so much winning." He is sooo correct! I am thoroughly tired of all the winning that his administration is providing. I am also looking forward to becoming ill, and enjoying it, because of the wonderful health plans that are in place.
6
Kim Jong-un is not interested in a bogus casino deal that will result in bankruptcy, consume millions of dollars, cheat hundreds out of thousands, and make Pumpkin Head rich. So it's no surprise that trump's bullying and circus antics aren't working. Give Kim credit - he's smarter than the average bear, and certainly much smarter than D.T.
2
The very idea that this joker and his supporters thought he had a shot at the Nobel Peace Prize tells you everything you need to know about the world we’re living in today. They’ve warped the space-time continuum to the point that even such normally sober-minded individuals as Jimmy Carter have fallen under their sway (Carter actually said he thought Trump has a shot at the Nobel).
How has the world lost its collective mind to this degree?
5
"It didn't work"? This is a long complicated process. To say it didn't work is pretty premature. Trump still holds the initiative by pulling out while the other side is dithering and posturing. Had he not, the NoKo would be holding the initiative.
Through all of the US holds the upper hand as we have the power, the time and patience whereas Kim's hold on his country and his life is tenuous. Trump and the US leadership is acting as such. Stay tuned and see that "It did work"!!
3
The more I think about the North Korean situation the more I realize we cannot leave China out of the equation.
I do not think they want the USA to dictate solutions in their area of influence , they do not want uncontrolled regime change leaving chaos on their border and an influx of refugees.
They also do not want a United Korea.
On the other hand they do not want a madman in the adjoining territory to have nuclear weapons.
I can see a scenario where China effectively annexes North Korea, they provide Kim UN Jung with a luxury exile, they install a " puppet " Government and start the process of rebuilding the economy.
The pretext for the annexation is to take out Kim's nuclear weapons .
This pretext is not without precedent , we invaded Iraq on the false pretext of WMD,s at least in this case the nuclear weapons are real.
1
As we focus on the United States handling of or with No Korea, I can't help but notice two other countries that stand to gain a lot in this issue.
That is China and Russia.
They both have been propping up No Korea with trade and goods for years.
They are both indeed very close allies with No Korea.
And we know that Putin is using Trump as his puppet to get what he wants so as to make this country look bad in the eyes of the world.
Trump with his knack for trying to pass for 'bad', is clearly out of his league.
1
I hope American historians , will placed Donald Trump in a place where he deserves in presdiential history.
Every future generation should learn what a mistake he is.
4
Kim Jong-un is infinitely more adept at negotiating and showing that he is an effective leader than the man-child Trump. Time after time Trump has demonstrated that he is untrustworthy, belligerent and shockingly ignorant. He was a fraud the day he announced his candidacy; nothing has changed.
3
i am glad that Mr. Sanger did not call this cancellation a "bold" strategy.
3
Gosh! I understand he has fantastic genes, weighs 239 lbs, and can live to be 200. I'll need to add the following:
"President Trump attempted a revolutionary approach to North Korea — a gamble that negotiating prowess and deal-making charm in a face-to-face meeting with Kim Jong-un."
This is truly the golden age and America is great again.
1
It's high time that we got it through our heads that there is no strategy here. This is not bargaining. There are no plans. There is no preparation.
This is a dangerous fool's blustering, against a backdrop of other dangerous fools jockeying for power.
Oh, sure, there're a couple rational and competent people in the maelstrom, like Mattis or even like Pompeo. You can get fooled into thinking this makes some kind of sense, even if it is far-right sense.
But it's just chaos, whipped up by a guy who'd mostly gotten away with this sort of phantasmagoria, and is now dimly aware that he's in trouble with the cops. I am particularly dismayed to see reporters forgetting that if "tensions have eased," it's tensions that trump mostly whipped up in the first place.
If anything good comes of it, it'll be an accident.
7
Many issues here. White House chaos and mixed messaging (Bolton, an even greater disrupter than Trump, “Libya model”, Pence the parrot), general incompetence and ignorance (Pompeo’s neo-colonial offer to “send Americans” to straighten NKorea’s economy out), etc., etc. Plus dealing with pretty ruthless people who have perfected the art of survival (Kim, Xi). Those guys don’t sue their adversaries—they kill them. And yes, the Norks don’t love us, but we haven’t exactly sent unhostile messages of love and peace either (Bolton’s invasion screed, Trump’s fire and fury like the world has never seen). Basically a small mess in a larger mess of incompetence. These guys simply don’t know what they’re doing...and the Indiana Jones approach of making it up as you go along doesn’t work. But maybe we should have a sliver of sympathy for poor Donnie, who so wanted that Nobel (a part of his general anti-Obama motivations?). But no boo-hoos from me. (But will that commemorative coin become a collectors item...in maybe 200 years if there’s anything left).
3
I am reminded of the scene in the movie Patton when 'Patton' (George C. Scott) was relishing his first tank victory: "Rommel! I read your book!"
Kim outplayed Trump in this 'dealmaking.' He could be saying: "Trump! I read your book!"
1
too early to tell..... too early to tell. This stuff plays out in weeks and months not hours or days. Can still succeed, can still fail. I never understand the value of wanting to close the story. "Oh this happened - so it's done."
Nah ... nothing is done.
1
This is a very unfair confrontation. Mr. Kim is way smarter.
2
We are all forgetting something... As much as I dislike Trump, we need to think back a few presidents...
First: "...evil empire..."
Then: "Bombing of Moscow begins in three minutes."
Then the failed talks: Nyet.
and then the Soviet Union falls.
And finally: The Soviet Union rises again by controlling the elections in the United States to elect their puppet, Donald Trump.
1
Those who even considered the possibly that the summit would occur are the same people who were deluded by the "fact" of WMDs in Iraq. Reality check, people....human nature never changes. As then use some common sense about the personalities involved. Oh, and read even a little history. (Sorry if this sounds like one of your mother's lectures.)
1
I have to hand it to Trump... he's doing a pretty stellar job of out-crazying Kim.
7
This was not a revolutionary approach, it was sheer stupidity.
If there are three things Trump has no clue about they are how our government works, military matters and definitely diplomacy.
We are in an all time low for leadership and right now we need sane cool heads running the country not some hot head who thinks he knows everything.
11
Stormy Don doesn't like to be made a fool of.
Let's hope he doesn't go back to threatening nuclear war with North Korea egged on by NSA Chief John Bolton.
4
We all accept, it was a gamble,
we all know this is the guy bankrupted Atlantic city casinos.
How soothing.
Let me drink my Kojic acid to ready for Nuclear Armageddon
2
Good negotiating requires discipline. This president has very little discipline.
International agreements require a certain level of trust among nations. At the very least international agreements require mechanisms for verification.
This president has withdrawn the US from two major agreements. He also wants to renegotiate or withdraw from just about every major trade agreement. In what sense has Trump indicated to Kim that agreements mean anything his administration or even, at this point, to the United States?
Diplomacy requires statesmanship. Trump doesn't seem to understand that statesmanship requires more than hosting a fancy dinner, agreeing to a summit, or inviting somebody to one of his clubs.
7
How did we get here? North and South Korea were doing splendidly in getting together to unify the peninsula. This was the focus of the Winter Olympics and the recent cordial meeting between the NK and SK. The next step for the US should have been a meeting of the minds on how to achieve this end of "peaceful coexistence."
Bluster, threats, and laying out the terms of the "deal" before hearing what the other side has to say? Diplomacy was needed here and unfortunately the U.S. has lost the "art of diplomacy" due to poor leadership.
The next book DJT might consider is "From the Art of Deal to the Art of Leadership."
1
While Trump gets blasted in the ivory towers about how he should be doing things, he merely goes out and tries to get things done. His strength is understanding people and how to deal with them as witnessed by his improbable election win. While other Presidents have let North Korea do as they wished, Trump pushed back. He was ridiculed in the media yet he managed to get North Korea and South Korea to begin talks. He was ridiculed again when he pulled out of the talks yet has left a door open. Sadly it seems it is more important to mock Trump than to support an effort of peace. It may well turn out for naught but rooting for Trump to fail on this issue seems petty and small.
3
No one is hoping Trump will fail. He is perfectly capable of taking care of that himself. The South and North were communicating pretty well. Then we conduct military exercises which are known to antagonize the North. Why? Hawks in the administration -- Bolton and Pence -- talk about Libya like it's a great outcome for these talks knowing full well such talk is threatening. Why? To me it seems that the administration was having second thoughts all along about the reality of a likely deal because it could make Trump appear weak. So Kim was set up to be belligerent in order for us to save face. That is only my opinion, but it is based on facts. Again, no one hoped this optimistic scenario would fail; the administration made that happen.
3
The great negotiator wins again. Whew, it must be tough to be so good. The real are of the deal. Not.
2
The even handed tone of this article is just another symptom of how bad things are. The north Koreans are acting rationally in their perceived self interest. The US, not so much, bringing up Libya as the "model" to follow is rhetoric designed to scuttle negotiations and mostly benefits the military industrial /national security state. Sanger's assumption that this process, from the US POV is anything but a lead up to war is yet another symptom of the failure of the US press to deal with the democracy killing narcissistic chaos machine that is Trump
3
Trump's plan to meet Kim was as real as his promise to release his tax returns. They both bumped into reality.
10
"Now comes the test of his peacemaking skills."
Mr Sanger, while you were referring to Mr Moon when you wrote this, we certainly need to apply it to Mr Trump also.
The short answer is - unfortunately - our president has none.
If he (personally) is not the "winner" of the deal, he simply won't sign it ... or - as he has shown - would even go so far as to revoke one already agreed to, in place and working ... by SEVEN other World powers!
(And - heck - I don't even have to go into his "truthiness.")
8
Can a open free Democratic Nation coexist with a Communist Dictatorship ? I hope not,If we would, it would mean we are turning our back on millions of enslaved people.We are the only hope they have for a free society.It doesn’t mean that we go to war with them, but we must continue to openly criticize North Korea & hold out hope that eventually the NK people will rise up & overthrow the Despot that rules them.
4
Trump admires those dictators and hopes to turn America into a dictatorship. If you don't see that, you are truly blind. Trump wants you to kneel before him. He doesn't really believe kneeling is disrespectful.
3
Bill, Trump distorts our Democracy, & I don't include him as an example of Democracy. Every once in a while a desport sneaks into the White House, like Nixon & Trump.
1
So the big bully just got sand kicked in his face by North Korea. If this is trump's art of the deal he better be prepared for some Iranian sand.
13
Where's Dennis Rodman when we need him?
5
So the "Greatest Dealmaker of all Times" has failed just like his many botched attempts to earn money.
Big Deal, or as the German magazine Der Spiegel puts it:
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/cartoon-des-tages-fotostrecke-142907-9...
Dear Americans, you wanted this guy, you voted for him, but why does the rest of the world have to live with him?
Couldn't you keep him at home and take away the nuclear suitcase?
13
As you could garner by the extended world wide press coverage, we didn't elect him.Unfortunately, being a country that tries to abide by it's founding constitution, we can't easily or quickly just kick the guy out. Clearly, we need to make some changes to our system to prevent future despots from stealing elections aided by Russia, or as I like to call them, The Soviet Union. Meanwhile, here is my message to you and the rest of the world.......
HELP ! We need help! We need immediate International help removing this Dictator before he blows up the world!!!
1
Hey Donald next time don't start the home run trot until the ball goes over the fence.
12
Maybe a "gamble" within a FOX entertainment reality show.
3
The headline is wrong. It should read “Trump’s gamble proves he is a rank amateur and has no place in government.” Really, writing articles that try to normalize this presidency need to stop.
53
Trump, the Narcissist, preoccupied with: “He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He.....”
That’s all that matters to Trump: adoration!
4
REALITY: the print media can not keep up with Trump i.e. this opinion which is one day old is already out of date and proven wrong
2
trump can not keep up with trump. This abject failure that blew up in his face proves that. Now the question is how is he going to unload all those ridiculous coins that now commemorate nothing?
1
The president who doesn't read (sure would like to see his college transcript as well as his income taxes) has no understanding of history, geopolitics or other cultures. Worse, he doesn't seek any such understanding. He is a militantly ignorant global menace who values drama over substance. Remember in November.
17
The Art of the Deal ?? The stable genius strikes out. AGAIN.
6
Who knew it was so complicated?
5
Using a veiled threat of nuclear war as a bargaining chip in negotiations with sovereign (if rogue) states - is certifiably insane...because there can be no winners in that kind of encounter. Trump can sugar-coat his overtures to Kim Jong un with promises of future wealth and prosperity but unless this administration understands and accepts North Korea's objectives - his honeyed words are meaningless. Just like Americans who were promised a future where winning would become tiresome - (it hasn't) North Korea and China smell a rat. Both those nations want US military off the Korean Peninsula and US warships out of the Yellow Sea...and for them, that's a non-negotiable objective. Kim Jong un needs his Nukes to remain at the bargaining table and he is not going to dismantle them. Trump's "I'm going to take my ball and go home" move is an insight into the level of play he understands - what he doesn't seem to understand is the level of play his Asian counterparts are engaged in.
117
Translation: Trump has no idea what he is doing.
9
The big picture is that he just negotiated the same treaty with North Korea that we have with Iran.
2
More than hitting a reality check, the American Egomaniac hit the boundaries of his own ego.
Like an egotistical child who sees himself at the center of the universe, Trump sees Kim Jong-un not a threat to national security, but rather as a tool for his own aggrandizement. Trump cancelled the meeting when he realized Kim would not allow himself to be manipulated. The Nobel Peace Prize, it seems, will have to wait.
8
The only imediment to a deal to reduce tensions on the Korean peninsula and ultimately peacefully unite the two Koreas is absolute US intransigence regarding reducing the US military footprint in South Korea. None of the other 3 major parties in these discussions (South Korea, North Korea and China) want them there - most importantly the South Koreans. But senior officials in the US military and their career managers in the military industrial complex where revolving door gold plated supplements are dangled before compliant Pentagon officials to ensure witless - but profitable - policies that ensure escalations of tensions and forever wars are followed. All for no good reason. The US does not need over 800 military bases around the world. Nor does it need all the already ample bases absent any in South Korea it already has in Asia. Yet we continue to pay the cost and live with the senseless elevated risks because it lines the pockets of the war mongers as surely as the ensuing tensions and potential wars enhances the careers of Pentagon officials who put what is good for their careers and the military industrial complex ahead of what is good for the US and the world. Shame to all who would derail this process for such base rewards. There is precious little honour in that.
39
For the last 25 years, the US has been requesting the South assume command of forces in Korea. They have pushed back the date each time saying theyre not ready. Of course not they have Americans to defend their country, while they invest in their economy. Mr. Trump ran of pulling th US out of Korea.
1
Excuse me. The SK don't want the US military bases there? Are we holding a gun to their heads?
1
World prosperity and advancement, which for all its two-steps-back has been making three steps forward since WWII, rests on the Pax Americana. Our global military presence not only serves our national security, it guarantees a (relatively) stable basis for global civilization.
The gravity of that responsibility is perhaps the main reason Trump's Presidency is such a terrifying disaster.
5
Trump has to understand that he is dealing with China. They are the boss in that part of the World. North Korea is just the Middle Man.
7
Nuclear patrimony . . .sounds as valid a reason for having one as the hype in a Porsche marketing ad for its performance legacy. Whenever I'm driving the speed limit on the freeway next to one, I'm going just as fast even without a legacy. How does one rationally talk arms control when there's no logical rationale for having them in the first place. Hype is hype. It's like telling a kid they can't have the latest toy because his closet is too full already with the old ones he's never played with. Better the meeting's been called off and spare us the embarrassment of having to witness our supposedly enlightened species at its most hapless.
The sad fact is that being a Nuclear armed nation gives it's citizens a sense of enormous national pride.
Years ago I went to India on business. I was shocked by the poverty and corruption. I was also shocked by the enormous pride shown by the fact that they were a Nuclear power and that President Clinton visited them.
Until we get to a point where the world sees education, housing, health care and productive people as the measure of a nation the idea of denuclearization is a fantasy.
Unfortunately leadership matters and we are now the worlds largest arms dealer and along with Russia the worlds largest proponent of wars of choice. It's not a coincidence that we just passed a budget that cut taxes and raised military spending by an enormous amount while poverty stricken countries seek bigger military budgets and nuclear arms.
Leadership in arms reduction takes both words and deeds.
70
And he wants to cut more taxes
3
I find laughable Mr Sanger's characterization of of Trump's approach to North Korea as 'revolutionary.'
Readers could also benefit from deeper background on the two nations' histories with each other. Let's start with US carpet bombing of civilians in the early 1950s, and let's mention how we bombed the dams as well. And we've had them surrounded ever since. No wonder they want nukes. They aren't crazy, and they know who they are dealing with. The funny thing about all this is that they don't really view Trump as any different from previous administrations, and they shouldn't.
4
Myself, I find it laughable that people disremember who invaded who, not to mention the death camps.
2
Would the MSM please stop offering the narrative that Trump is a successful businessman. He has never been a successful businessman. He rode the coattails of his father. Then parlayed that into a two-bit empire that was built on nothing but his own word that he was wheeler dealer extraordinaire.
So it's not surprising that everything he does as president that requires negotiating and finesse fails. Even more so when he's dealing with adversaries who aren't fellow grifters and con men who think that Trump is their golden ticket.
11
Am I the only one who thinks that this "cancellation" is yet another choreographed publicity stunt by this Reality-TV Non-President?
6
Relative to this article’s photo and NK’s position, I’d say the caption should be a quote from the Wizard of Oz: Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
4
Trump is clearly feeling massive panic from the Mueller investigation. Canceling NK talks creates major havoc around the world and temporarily diverts attention off of Trump's legal problems.
Waiting for Cohen to flip...
5
With respect to dealing with N Korea, Iran and China/global economy matters, Trump seems to be playing 3-level chess; pitting both outer levels against the middle yet the middle level changes with one of the other levels with each move.
Yesterday he cancels the meeting in Singapore; today Kim wants to meet anytime/anywhere. Undiplomatic? Absolutely! Maybe it, in fact, takes someone whose NOT PC and estranged from political decorum to deal with dictators like Kim, no?
Trump and the war mongering GOP don't want piece. Russia and China the bad guys on the planet had nuclear weapons for decades and the world had no choice but to accept it and use talk diplomacy to calm down bad moments. It worked then and it will now. This group of GOP seems only interested in war and doesn't care about a devastated ending for the world.
3
The reality is that Kim Jong-Un has more governing political experience and talent running a nation state than Trump, his cabinet and staff combined.
The reality is that North Korea has 25 million people with the 4th largest military and the most people per capita in military uniform. But for it's nuclear weapons and it's missiles, America could ignore them.
The reality is that there is only one ethnic sectarian historical Korea. There is no North nor South Korea. There is a socioeconomic political Korean civil war backed up by big foreign powers.
The reality is that China, Japan and South Korea have their own national interests and values regarding North Korea negotiations.
2
The reality is that shooting people with antiaircraft cannon, nerve gassing your relatives, shoving about a million people into death camps, immiserating almost everybody else in your country, and from time to time killing your neighbors with axes, isn't exactly "political experience," in the usual sense.
The author asks "What is their next chess move?" That's the problem. Chess requires strategic thinking and anticipating consquences several moves ahead. That's NOT Trump The Tweeter.
3
If this is an example of DJT ‘s business acumen, the real mystery is that he only fell into bankrupt four times rather than a dozen.
3
Yes, where would he be without his Russian money laundering machine?
1
This is a work in progress. It has not failed yet. These two hustlers are doing it the way hustlers do it, not the way diplomats do it. If the language and techniques seem strange, it's because you're comparing them to how the rest of the world does diplomacy. These two are doing it their way. Keep that in mind, and you might see a different set of possibilities.
I don't understand why Sanger can say that Trump's technique did not work or does not work. Trump cancelled the summit as a tactic to put pressure on Kim and to get a better deal. This is a classic Trumpian way of dealing with adversaries to show his strength and assess the opposite side. It appears that Trump won based on the response from Kim.
1
Is the president's approach really "innovative" if it is his only method of engagement?
1
The one observation that I have never seen made is that when two nations have at least one nuclear devise perfected, the numbers each have is totally irrelevant. One is the same as one hundred simply because the use of even one is so profound that it makes the remainder of the arsenal academic.
That understanding changes the entire atmosphere and to an extend is the foundation of MAD which fortunately kept a nuclear war from breaking out between the US and Solvate Union for 50 years,
28
Charlie, I was in the hospital in Bellingham earlier this month and my roommate was an electrician from Friday Harbor. Small world. He had been in a motorcycle/deer accident and was pretty well busted up. Hope you enjoy a safe and healthy Memorial Day Weekend in Friday Harbor. Reggie.
1
That is one of the things about the Right screaming about the sale of Uranium to Russia being some sort of scandal I have never understood. They already have plenty to blow up the world several times over. Why is it so bad if we did sell them a small portion? Were they powerless without it? Did it somehow make them suddenly far more powerful?
It generally seems that the US approaches foreign policy with the notion that it is the aspiration of every country to be a kind of little United States. That has never been especially fruitful, and the election of Trump has spectacularly eroded our image around the world, even among our allies. It is not in Trump's nature to even consider such a thing, and there isn't much reason to hope for better until he is gone.
11
How much does Trump know about what is always a complex process, nuclear de-escalation? Nothing. How much would he need to know for successful one-on-one negotiation with KJU? Lots. And the same is true of the details of improving North Korea's economy. So the June 12 meeting had to be cancelled.
But Trump can't lose face between now and November with his base; and China's control of its trade with N Korea holds the key as to whether KJU can keep his population in check. So Trump will be forced to ask China again for help in maintaining sanctions. In other words, only China has so far won anything in the battle of egos and wills between Trump and KJU.
4
I’m not sure which I find more amazing. The Trump administration’s inept negotiating with North Korea or Mr. Sanger’s attempt to portray that ineptness as something else.
7
“a bold and innovative approach?” Mr. Sanger, please explain.
Donald Trump never had a “bold and innovative approach” to any of his “foreign policy initiatives.” Or are you saying that “Mexican rapists “ and “keep out Muslims” and immigrants are “animals” qualify as this administration’s foreign policy? If so, you might be right.
But as pertains to North Korea, there’s no “winning” here. Even if there as an infinitesimal chance for eventual success, don’t you think that the new American president ran off allies and welcomed enemies when, 16 months ago, in his Inaugural Address (written by America First advocates), he trashed President Barack Obama for bequeathing to him an “American Carnage?”
And how long was Trump in office before he began taunting Kim Jong-un in schoolyard terms, comparing sizes and threatening “fire and fury?” Trump has never negotiated anything for the country’s benefit—only his own and to play to his servile base.
He disenboweled the Department of State, running off experienced, dedicated, accomplished public servants from Foggy Bottom. Then, in another “bold and innovative approach,” he trashed his first SecState, Rex Tillerson, undermining his authority and credibility at home and around the globe. And you call this failed result a “bold and innovative approach?”
Trump lacks two cardinal virtues in the diplomat’s portfolio: wisdom and patience, two of which defined President Obama. Trump isn’t the millionth particle of what Obama was.
45
The analysts, apologists and super-patriots are hard at it; inventing all kinds of reasons why the talks are off: Its 'typical N.Korea behavior. It was all a sham by N.Korea. They knew they couldn't denuclearize. ad infinitum.
The real reality is that Trump's hand-picked advisors blew it.
They couldn't help themselves going on TV, sounding off and seeking their fame. (Birds of a feather...). Stone boasted that N.Korea would be handled exactly like Libya. Pence bragged that if N.Korea didn't unilaterally comply with all conditions all at once, immediately, they would suffer the fate of Libya, not an eventuality, but 'a fact'.
Is it any wonder that Kim retreated back into his little fortress.
12
Not the Libyan model. The India model: shrug and accept. Or the Israel model: pretend it isn't there.
8
"It was a bold and innovative approach, and one worth trying...." What? Is the author at all familiar with our 45th president, and his concept of "trying"?
11
trump will not learn from this.
5
I never believed that the North Koreans would simply "denuclearize" in exchange for some economic aid and some promises of security, and it now seems obvious that Mr. Trump and some of his key advisers on this issue (e.g., Mr. Bolton and Mr. Pompeo) were naive and gullible, and made the mistake of not correctly analyzing previous attempts to deal with North Korea on this important issue.
67
What makes you think the past was taken into account?
5
The current North Korean regime would be nuts to totally de-nuke. Having just a few nukes along with the ability to deliver these nukes to key targets is their only insurance against an American invasion. Kim will never completely de-nuke, and as a result America will not invade or bomb North Korea for fear that Kim will use the nukes. The terrible fact is that for Kim and his regime the nukes and ICBMs are the best thing going for them. This gives them a level of muscle as well as protection that they did not have before. Again, what could we offer them that they would give all this up?
7
I do not think that you could call something with no chance of success - a gamble - this whole process was amateur night on steroids - another clownish reality TV show.
14
Trump and reality don't usually mix.
15
This should come as a well-hidden relief to Trump-hating progressives: the spectacle of the loathed Trump being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. I think I detect a few crocodile tears over the North Korea talks collapse? Hmm?
Your type of hyper-partisanship is a joke. You would have to pull their fingernails out in order to get the Swedes to give him such a prize. All you have left now are sour grapes.
2
He never had the slightest chance of winning a Nobel prize. It is ludicrous to think so which I suppose is why his supporters were the only voices recommending one.
The opposite of progressive is regressive so I'm glad to fall into the 1st category. Trump was nowhere near the criteria for a Nobel, so there never was any expectation he would be considered except amongst the most extreme Trumpists. Being a service-member, I would love for the Korea situation to be resolved, but having observed it for many years it is likely to remain very difficult for the foreseeable future. Neither I nor anybody I know of is happy this fell through, but I tend to hang with reasonable, progressive people. Your comment seems to reflect that your are gloating that "Trump-hating progressives" would be gloating - there is nothing productive in that comment at all.
Have you heard the news, this may be back on again! Time to update!!
@Aloysius: Don't worry. It's Trump. It'll be off again next week. And even if they do meet at some point in the future, they will still not be able to agree on much of anything. Everyone will walk away mad at each other, and Trump will blame someone else for his failure. Then he'll pretend that he did something great, something fantastic, something wonderful. His base will bob their heads enthusiastically and the rest of us will roll our eyes, donate some more money to Democrats, and go about our business.
This is all a big show, intended to fool Republicans into thinking they are doing something with our taxpayer dollars besides wasting them on giving tax breaks to billionaires and corporations.
4
While Trump impulsively pursued a Nobel Peace Prize chasing Kim Jong Un, thousands of American citizens are still without power in Puerto Rico. Nine months after Hurricane Maria! There will be no Nobel Peace Prize for Trump's mean-spirited, callous neglect of Puerto Rico! Shameful!
36
I wholeheartedly agree with you however , shame won't do it...there needs to be one million Puerto Ricans marching to Washington D.C and initiating a general boycott on a sustaining basis...challenging yes, but overwhelmingly productive.
2
Trump thinks that bullying tactics work on everyone, including foreign leaders. It's the way he's operated his entire life when the stakes were not quite so high. As president, he's putting our country in peril, if not the entire world. He can't be gone soon enough. He's an incompetent egomaniac and a major embarrassment to our country.
44
Donald bought the same genius that led to his six bankruptcies to the challenge of dealing with the Little Rocketman. It is therefore not surprising that the Great Negotiator couldn't even get to the first meeting let alone come up with a winning deal that would lead inexorably to the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Keep your eyes open for a White House posting on Craigslist advertising the sale of 10,000 commemorative medals, each featuring a profile of the Great One modeled directly on Alec Baldwin's SNL impression of Him.
12
No doubt the price has already skyrocketed thanks to all the hype the summit cancellation has gotten, making them all that much more collectible for his critics to have for them to point to as proof of Trump's incompetence. Mueller should really look into this as possibly another one of his con jobs set up just to scam medal investors.
Earlier this week, a NY Times opinion piece urged us to "stop giving Trump the benefit of doubt", and many comments wondered in what way does the Times do that. This piece is an example of how:
"President Trump attempted a revolutionary approach to North Korea —
It was a bold and innovative approach, and one worth trying, to take on the related goals of a peace treaty and eradicating the North’s now-substantial nuclear arsenal."
Approaching international diplomacy as if it were a real estate deal may be revolutionary in the sense that no one has been so naive as to attempt it before, but why give Trump the benefit of doubt in stating it was a "bold and innovative approach"? Isn't it much more likely that he used this approach because it is the only one he knows?
And rather than credit Trump with having a goal of a peaceful, nuclear free Korea, everything we know about the man tells us his only real goal in any issue is self-aggrandizement.
The article is correct in its thesis, that "The Art of the (Real Estate) Deal" doesn't translate to other realms, but wrong when it assumes Trump intentionally chose this strategy from among many available to him.
Let's not give Trump the benefit of doubt. The "Art of the (Real Estate) Deal" is all Trump knows.
87
There goes the Nobel...
13
This is the best explanation I have seen. It takes in the power of retainers. there and here, to sabotage what they don't like by, in this case, blaming the other side for impasses.
Bolton knew what he was doing; so I assume did North Korea's nomenklatura, which achieved an obvious goal (obvious to everyone but Trump) to get the other guy to cancel, evading blame for themselves.
Last point, not said here, the reported lack of any notification to Japan and, it is said, the Republic of Korea (Moon must have known in his gut Trump would cancel) shows just how dangerous Trump is to American lives and treasure. His contempt for allies will be repaid when the alliances fray beyond repair.
16
Nuclear weapons. Obviously America has far more than North Korea and communist countries aren't big on capitulation, especially to United States. If Trump wants to be considered for a Nobel peace prize (which should go to President Moon if this summit happens), he'll have to do something he doesn't do well: be diplomatic. Trump cannot identify with the psyche of those who live in poverty, so thinking the lure of "being rich" will hypnotize Kim into disavowing his family history is a poorly thought out plan. The problem with being "hawkish" is that once countries see that you won't really press that button, then there is no advantage.
10
I read Sanger's column twice just to verify that he made no mention of China. I summit may have been the chapter du jour but it's not the book. China is calling the shots from here on out; that has not been lost on our "allies" South Korea and Japan either which views the aborted Trump-Kim summit in the context of the cancelled TPP. It's China's world now.
19
Thanks to Trump, who is absent at the helm of the ship of state.
1
The "master negotiator" had no plan, and no idea what he was getting into. The fact that any progress has been made during this administration's tenure has more to do with President Moon, and pure luck.
16
Points for Trump to consider. 1/ the average real estate developer does not have nukes, Kim does. 2/ Bolton is a disaster looking for a place to happen, get rid of him. 3/ About the Libyan option, it did not go that well, did it? Stop using it as a reference point except as what NOT to do. 4/ talk to some REAL diplomats and take their advice rather than winging it, your lawyers and money won’t be any use if you mess this one up.
22
Sound, sage advice--the kind Trump not only ignores and avoids, but to which he is allergic.
2
Him and his supporters would deride this advice as elitist thinking
"President Trump had sought to deal with Kim Jong-un the same way he had handled real estate negotiations" ... Well, Trump owns a skyscraper in Manhattan's 5th Avenue and several prime assets around the country wort hundreds of millions of dollars. He is considered one of the top real estate developers in the country with the US government giving him the old post office for redevelopment as proof - which he finished under budget and on schedule. Yes he is good. And I am glad he is applying those skills in dealing with a dictator who executes his own uncle and members of his close circle and has imprisoned tens of thousands in labour camps. Skills only a hard core tough real estate guy will have. With Kim now coming back like a lamb begging for a summit, Trumps strong arm tactics WILL work - where Obama, Bush 1 and 2 and Clinton failed. Watch.
@SD: So what if he owns some buildings? He has lost just as many through incompetence and six or seven bankruptcies (I've lost count, just as I've lost count of the many accusations of sexual assault that he's never been held accountable for.)
His father bailed him out of his worst mess, the Atlantic City casino, with an illegal three million dollar purchase of chips at a crucial moment when casino regulators were about to come down on little Donny. Many of "his" buildings no longer belong to him, because they were mismanaged and sold to better businesspeople; the Trump name is the only thing left of the Trumps in many of these buildings, so the family gets the optics without the responsibility.
After stiffing hundreds of small contractors in devious ways, Trump had to get out of the construction business because no American banks would lend to him any more. So he wound up laundering money for the Russian mob. Where his money comes from, and how much he actually has, is a mystery, because nobody outside the IRS has ever seen his tax returns, and he refuses to release them, contrary to what every other American president has done in modern times.
The guy is a rich crook who has manipulated and lied his way into the presidency of the United States, but who hasn't been brought to justice -- yet.
4
There are 2 immutable facts in this confrontation between the US and North Korea:
1. North Korea leadership views the US as an existential threat and uses this threat as the singular means for convincing its people that economic sacrifice and nuclear weapons are the price of survival. This is how the Kim dynasty has remained in power for over 60 years.
2. In any military conflict between the US and North Korea, nuclear or conventional, it is South Korea that will suffer the most, both in terms of lost lives and economic destruction. Moon's objective in brokering normalization is the survival of his own country.
Understanding these 2 immutable facts must be the basis for all negotiations. Trump has demonstrated that he has no interest in learning facts about anything, preferring to rely on his instincts and a rag tag assortment of advisers like Bolton. Disregarding the facts on the ground in Korea, combined with the ideological dissonance of Bolton, Pompeo, Pence and their boss, as expressed on news shows, in interviews, and tweets, where there seems to be a running commentary of disavowing and contradicting each other, is a recipe for miscalculation. It is in this scenario that the possibility for making that famous "mistake" becomes very real.
While the scuttling of the meeting was inevitable, we are now entering a more dangerous phase, where blame is assigned, rhetoric ratchets up, and face must be saved by 2 men famous for their manic egos.
9
The one observation that I have never seen made is that when two nations have at least one nuclear devise perfected, the numbers each have is totally irrelevant. One is the same as one hundred simply because the use of even one is so profound that it makes the remainder of the arsenal academic.
That understanding changes the entire atmosphere and, to an extent, is the foundation of MAD which fortunately kept a nuclear war from breaking out between the US and Solvate Union for 50 years,
14
To all the people who voted for Trump because they thought his 'business acumen' and shrewd 'deal-making' were the main qualities that would make him a good president, the verdict is now crystal clear: much to the contrary. Real estate business negotiations and dealings (no matter how well they are exercised, and there is plenty of evidence of Trump's malpractice in this arena) sadly do not translate into good governing and diplomacy. Perhaps a little forethought on this most crucial point could have been exercised before going to the ballot box. Midterms, anyone?
188
Yes, why couldn't he be more like the well-balanced and knowledgeable experts of proper diplomacy and statecraft who got us into the Korea mess in the first place?
1
North Korea became a nuclear state while we were distracted by a different conflict thanks to a different ill-prepared president and his neo-con advisers: the Iraq War. Start making the connections between senseless US aggression and poor foreign policy outcomes.
19
Trump's "business acumen" caused him to file bankruptcy 4 times, not pay his contractors mostly small businesses, and indebt his companies to the hilt. He's a fraudster and a con man. And that's how he's running our country... into the ground!
56
We sometimes forget that for Trump, everything is about Trump -- not about the American people, not about cyber war or actual war, nor the economy, justice system or even Constitutional gov't. Kim was out-maneuvering and getting better publicity than Trump, and the president's Art of Bullying was not working on Kim. Therefore, the nuclear summit had to be cancelled, period.
68
I disagree. Most of us never forget that for him everything is about him. Watch his sit down with the head of NATO last week where he basically demands that he give him credit for something.
Trump started the process by giving Kim a big victory.
Brilliant!
17
What a surprise the ignorant, self-absorbed, impulsive Trump, with no knowledge of the nuclear weapons in North Korea or the history of the Korean peninsula or any knowledge of how to conduct diplomacy, got blown up by his ego.
63
Simplicity is most accessible to many, but that’s not saying much.
“He will be safe, he will be happy, his country will be rich,” Mr. Trump said of the North Korean leader on Tuesday...
Those words were meant to assuage the fears raised by the Libya example used by Bolton and Pence.
No wonder the peace effort failed. How can the Trump administration reach a breakthrough with North Korea if they can't put forth a consistent message between themselves?
36
Donald Trump has received an inordinate amount of praise for almost getting the U.S. and North Korea to the table. Without the enthusiastic efforts of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump would never have gotten out of the starting gate and it is South Korea that is now feeling the sting of Trump’s unpredictability. The rest of us continue to suffer the wisdom of fools.
35
"the techniques involved in negotiating real estate do not translate easily into negotiations over nuclear weapons."
Duh!
9
...this implies (as did the article) that real estate negotiation strategies were being used. Sure.
You could have just left the comment at “duh.”
On the positive side—an aside not aimed at you—I’m saving time not getting into stupid arguments with folks. Usually we need to work really hard to get down to the stupid. When “stupid” is this obvious, I can just walk away. I’ve never had so much free time again. If he gets a second term, I may finish my doctorate in a year!
2
Very true, the world for Trump is a real estate negotiation. His inability to grasp that anything else is called for will lead to more failed negotiations. While he could revel in the headlines, all was great. But there is no result because he is stuck in a decades old stereotype and can't adapt!
9
It didn't work?
Whoa! Since when does Sanger get to call victory or defeat in the second inning?
Prediction is difficult especially about the future. The Times is batting 0.000 so far on events in the Korean peninsula. You'd think they would have learned a smidgen of humility. But no.
This shows the perils of the 24-hour news cycle.
In case anyone has missed it, the cancellation of the meeting with Kim Jong-un is a BARGAINING move -- like everything that preceded it and almost everything that will follow it. We don't know whether there will be a deal and what it will look like. Wait for the fat lady to sing before you write your review.
Give peace a chance.
Two words: "stable genius".
Good luck with that!
6
No, the problem here is that neither Trump nor his "band of henchmen" know anything about world affairs and the intricacies of dealing with those from different countries, cultures and political ideology. Theirs is the "bully pulpit", that is all they know.
Isn't it how ironic that Trump has now met someone who is as unpredictable and unreliable as he is and his response was to "throw his hands up in the air" and say, "maybe later"?
Get real, Kim is the leader of an authoritarian regime, he spends every day doing and saying things to survive. He doesn't know what the word "bargaining" means.
6
Wow! It is stunning how delusional Trump supporters are.
8
“negotiating prowess and deal-making charm”?? From this president, Mr. Sanger? His “diplomacy” consists of acid and nasty putdowns in the form of tweets of any person who has the temerity to disagree with him. Ask his predecessor or Secretary Clinton if this man is charming or a skilled negotiator. Ask his Republican primary opponents if this man has “charm”. Ask the FBI and Justice Department officials if this man has “charm”. Ask world leaders if this man has “charm”.
Being a property developer is not the same as sitting at a table for a summit between two nuclear powerful countries. The president, with his narrow mindset and lack of experience in diplomacy and foreign affairs, bungled badly and took a PR licking on the world stage. He all but reserved his hotel reservations in an Oslo hotel for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies. That’s the prize the president had his eyes on, not the denuclearization of North Korea.
The reality is that this president needs a skilled diplomat, a competent SOS who understands the problems around the world and has experience in diplomacy. Instead, he has staffed his administration with yes-men and toadies who sit, stand, bark and give paw on command. It’s only loyalty that matters to this man, not competence, knowledge or world peace.
40
You are so right. Charming is certainly a misnomer for Trump, and he and his team are in way over their collective head. Trump would have been qualifying to plan a casino in North Korea, but not to gamble with the world's security, as he did.
And congrats on getting two Picks today. They were great reads!
5
This article gives trump way too much credit for having a plan or strategy in place. Yet at the same time points out that trump used the same tactics on Kim that he has used for decades to bamboozle banks, his real estate business partners and victims - which is actually no plan at all.
This entire failure of "International Diplomacy by Bullying" is uniquely trump. trump will always be our Embarrassment In Chief.
85
Trump, a great deal maker? 0 for 6, what a Joke.
43
Dave,
Obama isn't president anymore. Your boy Trump got played like a cheap fiddle. Get over it.
Trump is in charge. His record of failure is the issue. The election is over. He won now get on with reality and stop falling back on some fake comment about Obama. It just shows your weakness when you use loser tactics like those.
The author is highlighting the fact that Mr.Trump continues with his “real estate” deal making style and continues to fail. It does not work that way in international relationships and the problems are never 1 dimensional. Trump’s simplistic approach might be good to keep his stron man image alive for his “base” - but are not effective to achieve anything. It would be time to change the negotiation tactics - but that will not happen for a simple reason: Mr.Trump does never change and if does not work as he expects it to - he simply walks away. But the problems do not just vanish - they still need to be solved!
166
Plus he does not want to admit that the way you negotiate deals with leaders is the way Obama did it. The diplomatic way. Make concessions to get what you want. But Trump just puts it out there take all or leave it. Those tactics and negotiations work when your dealing with a plumber who needs to be paid and you’re refuseing. It does not work when it’s a world leader with nuclear weapons.
18
Spot on assessment. Trump has always been about the show not the substance and certainly not the details. Cultivate the image carefully and the rest will take care of itself. Build a brand and you build a band of followers. You can even get away with it politically for a while until or unless the sheer emptiness of it becomes so overwhelming that only the incurably blind still believe.
13
Essential to any successful negotiation is the willingness to walk away. Absent that you end up with bad and sometimes disastrous deals.
Too soon for pundits to say what will or will not work.
2
The fact is Trump is making up strategy as he goes. That is not going to work when your opponent knows his next move, your next move and you don’t what you’re going to have for breakfast.
2
This is all insane. This should not be unfolding in public view. Take Korea negotiations back behind closed doors where they belong. Too much is at stake to allow Trump's impulses (as fueled by his daily Fox and Fiends intel briefings) to steer the ship of state.
9
Quoting an unnamed American official, the Economist recently described Trump's handling of foreign policy this way: "Trump is the sort ofguy who punches you in the face and if you punch him back he says, 'Let's be friends.' China punched him back and he retreated. The Europeans told him how beautiful he was and they got nothing." It is a lesson North Korea's Kim has learned as well as China's Xi.
55
Mr. Sanger wrote:
"The fact that it fell on Thursday before getting out of the starting gate, though, underscored how little the two men understood about each other."
I disagree with this assessment. Kim understood Trump well enough to expect erratic behavior and impulsive decisions. Thus, Kim carefully groomed Trump's ego, while controlling the situation to his advantage.
Kim knew that after showing the world all of the good-will gestures he's made recently (even if they were just relatively empty), he would then be able to walk away if Trump didn't give him everything he wanted, yet still look like the more accomodating (and mature) party in the negotiations.
In other words, Kim understood Trump well enough to manipulate the situation to give himself back-door exits, yet still come out looking stronger.
His strategy worked. Trump fell for it all, hook, line, and sinker.
Kim's a narcissist, but he's not stupid. Trump's both.
129
When this meeting was originally announced , a friend of mine said " Great! A meeting between a sociopath and a narcissist. What could go wrong? ME? I'll always bet on the sociopath winning ( Kim) " he was so spot on, Kim played trump like a fiddle. How fitting, since trump is a cross between Nero and Caligula.
6
he now has two nuclear crises on his hands at once.
Both are of his own making.
Will he take responsibility for that?
Stay tuned folks, fox and friends have audio tape of Hillary Clinton sabotaging this Summit from her cell phone days before the Benghazi attacks in 2012.
4
This is Exactly how trump ran his real estate business his entire life;he threatened everyone, bullied everyone, and sued everyone. That's why those who lived in and around New York and read the news know what a bullying, suing rampage his life was and continues to be as a faux president. Never one to deal with integrity, the handshake meant nothing to him, he only wanted his way and he wanted it NOW. Those who support him refuse to look at his character and his past. He is what he was and what he was was never good. No judgment, no "what if", just whatever he feels at the moment. SAD. DISGRACEFUL.
150
So, according to President Trump, it's back to "maximalist" sanctions. But in the last few weeks, President Trump has insulted his allies in: Western Europe (when he broke the Iran deal, threatened their auto exports), China (when he levied tariffs), Canada and Mexico (his two "spoiled" partners in a NAFTA that is tottering because of "stolen" auto jobs), South Korea (also an auto job "thief and made to look foolish in its role as "honest broker") and Japan (also an "auto job thief" and downwind of any fallout from a nuclear attack against North Korea).
Having recently ignored or insulted almost every major ally and trading partner the United States has, President Trump now wants to revert to an increased economic blockade of North Korea? His actions to date don't seem designed to produce that result.
33
This latest dust up is totally normal in hardball negotiations.
Negotiating parties feign outrage and anger. Threats are made and implied. Voices are raised. Team members play good cops and bad cops. Egos are stroked. Meetings are planned, cancelled, and planned again. People walk away, then come back. Preliminary agreements are reached and then broken.
It’s all a way to determine and strengthen each party’s power and bottom line.
Most foreigners are very skilled at this. Iranians are masters. Chinese and North Koreans are also outstanding. Most Americans are not. They are simply too conflict-averse. (In my experience, this is especially true among highly educated Americans.)
Fortunately, Trump is not like most Americans. He is a successful veteran of the rough and tumble, cutthroat New York City real estate market.
These negotiations will likely end in a deal that is less than perfect, but better than a direct military threat to the U.S., nuclear proliferation, or a shooting war. There will be many potholes before this deal is reached. It will be fun to watch.
21
No, it will be embarrassing. Everything about Trump is embarrassing
37
"Trump is not like most Americans. He is a successful veteran of the rough and tumble, cutthroat New York City real estate market."
Let's all just pray that Mr. "Rough and Tumble" doesn't cut all of our throats with his swaggering buffoonery. Don't paint Mr. Tick Tack as a master of anything but distraction. Comfortable enough with "little rocket man" taunts as the only form of negotiation standing between us and nuclear armageddon? I'd suggest your analysis is more than a bit off.
33
C. Whiting:
Your response suggests that you are a highly educated, highly conflict-averse person. That is laudable in some circumstances, but not in this type of negotiation.
5
This was not a reality check, except regarding the reality of Trump's ego and how it determines his actions. It really had nothing to do with the actions or word of the North Koreans. The process may never have come to a successful conclusion, but that is not why Trump canceled. Hopefully he will take the offer of the North Koreans to reconsider and have the strength of character to return to the process. And yes, with eyes wide open.
1